A Tale Of Two Princesses
by Carrot-Bunny
Summary: When two princesses from two very different backgrounds are thrown together by fate, they must work together to survive and find their way back home. Along the way, they strike up an unlikely friendship. But can it last? R/R.
1. An Impending Storm

"This will truly be one for the history books, General Iroh," said Zhao as he stood on the bridge of his flagship with the once-legendary general. "Just think, centuries from now, people will study the great Admiral Zhao who destroyed the last of the Water Tribe civilization. You're lucky you're here to see it," he continued.

Iroh spoke quietly. "Be careful what you wish for, Admiral. History is not always kind to its subjects."

The admiral turned to his companion and spoke mockingly. "I suppose you speak from experience. But rest assured, this will be nothing like your legendary failure at Ba Sing Se."

"I hope not, for your sake."

Zhao seemed to ignore his words as he gave a command. "Tell the captains to prepare for first strike."

As Iroh turned and walked away, Zhao stood alone, savoring the taste of impending victory. However, the moment was spoiled by a feminine voice. "It's a lovely place, isn't it, Zhao?"

_Oh great, here comes the little brat, _Zhao grumbled to himself as he turned around and pasted a fake smile on his face. "It is indeed, Princess Azula."

A girl of fourteen stepped out onto the bridge, walking forward to stand in front of her father's subject. "And it will be even more glorious when it is in our hands. I am told you will make sure of that, Admiral?"

Zhao growled under his breath, then replied, "Rest assured of that, Princess. The Northern Water Tribe will fall before the week is over."

"I hope so, for your sake," the princess said, not knowing that her words were similar to those her uncle said mere minutes ago. "You do know the Fire Lord will not be very forgiving to those who have failed him?"

_Stupid little whore, _Zhao cursed inwardly. _I do not need you to tell me about the Fire Lord's reactions if this whole thing fails. And I swear by Agni, it will not!_

"Well, Admiral Zhao?"

Zhao took a sharp intake of breath. He had nearly forgotten about the princess' presence.

"I know very well, Princess." He bowed low to the ground, letting the top of his headconceal the murderous expression on his face. "And I will not disappoint the Fire Lord. The Northern Water Tribe will fall, and the Fire Nation will be victorious."

The princess nodded. "Very good, Admiral. I will be awaiting first strike in my chambers." And with that, she walked back into the ship with a regal air.

"Little stuck-up thing," Zhao grumbled as he stood on the bridge, alone once again. He had not objected to the Fire Lord's orders that his second-born would follow him on this siege, but now he wished he had said something at least back in the throne room. The little brat was a horrible pain in the neck, and was certainly ruining the whole journey for him.

_She's as bad as her brother, maybe even worse, _he thought, remembering the banished prince who had been her royal sibling. Had been, because now he no longer existed. Thanks to his meticulous planning and a few less-than-dignified 'acquaintances', he had disposed of the obstacle in time for the siege. He had thought he could sit back and relax as the walls of Northern Water Tribe fell, but apparently he was wrong.

Just then, a thought suddenly came to him. Try as he may to push it away, it would not go. He knew the idea was nothing less than treacherous, but it would take care of his newest nuisance. It wouldn't be too hard to make the whole thing seem like an accident and no one could be there to witness it. If he just fine-tuned it a little, it just might work. He headed into the ship, to get ready for first strike and also to work on his plan.

...

A white-haired girl tried to hold back tears as she stood on the steps leading to the palace of the Northern Water Tribe. "You don't understand. I have duties to my father, to my tribe. I have to do this. Goodbye!"

She knew she was breaking her beloved's heart right now, but she had no other choice. She couldn't risk losing another loved one to her rash actions. She had learned that as a princess, the only way was to do what was expected of her, and nothing more than that. Any otherwise, and she might be the cause of another unfortunate incident, and she wasn't about to go through all that again.

However, as she watched the boy she loved step forward to enlist in a suicide mission, she couldn't help but wonder if she had pushed him too far. When their eyes met and he walked away without looking back, she could feel the tears silently course down her cheeks. She rubbed them before anyone noticed, however, and told herself that it was for the best, that only if she let go of him could she ensure his safety. Even if it would hurt him inside, she was willing to sacrifice her feelings for him for the sake of him and the entire tribe.

She then turned her head towards a servant hurrying towards her and who bowed as soon as he stood in front of her.

"Princess, you have to come with us into the palace to evade the siege."

She just nodded silently and followed the servant into the palace.

...

In the bowels of a first-class Fire Nation battleship, Princess Azula awaited the beginning of the siege of the North.

In the royal chambers of the Northern Water Tribe, Princess Yue awaited the beginning of the same onslaught.

Little did the two princesses know that both of their lives would be changed by the coming tale of battle.


	2. The Siege Begins

The corridor was empty as Azula walked through the long hallway, casting shadows on the walls as she walked past the lamps situated every few yards. She stopped in front of one of the doors, turned the bolt and entered.

After closing the door firmly behind her, she gently took off the golden hairpiece that held her long hair together and let it fall down over her back. As she turned to put it on the dressing table, she stopped at the sight of herself in the mirror.

Here she was, a princess of the Fire Nation on a mission to take down the Northern Water Tribe, one of the last remaining resistances against her father's rule. With its downfall, her nation would be one step closer to its vision of world domination. And she was determined to do everything she could towards that goal.

But first she must tackle the matter at hand: Ensuring that the siege of the North went on successfully. If she could prove to her father that she could handle such things, she would be able to gain more of his trust and very soon be his right-hand man, assisting him in the matters of court. Then, when his time on the throne came to an end, she would be ready to take over the rule of the country. She was, after all, the only heir left to her father, as her incompetent brother had been banished years ago and quite possibly was no longer alive.

Thus, the siege stood as her quest, the task that her father had given her and expected to be fulfilled. Why else had he allowed her to go on this invasion? He said it was for her to gain some experience on the battlefield, but she knew it was more than that. He expected her to exceed what he expected, and she would do so accordingly.

Along with her on this invasion was her uncle. Formerly the great Dragon of the West, he was now a retired general whose only passion in life was his tea. He had been traveling around the world with his nephew in search of the Avatar since three years ago, but ever since his nephew had mysteriously vanished after an equally mysterious explosion on his ship, he had been joining in the siege by the invitation of the admiral in charge of this mission. Which brought her to what could be the only thing standing in the way of her victory.

She disliked him from the moment she laid eyes on him and she knew he wasn't much in favor of her either. She perceived him as an arrogant soldier who assumed too much of his status and most likely wanted all the glory to himself only. Yes, he would be a problem, but she could take care of that. She would let him know his place and step down to let the real leader take charge

For now, though, she needed rest. The invasion had stopped for the time being, since the near-full moon would greatly increase the opposing side's bending abilities. It would resume at daybreak and she intended to be fully prepared to attack. She planned to be on the battlefield herself alongside the admiral, whom she had 'unknowingly overheard' saying that he was going to be entering the city in search of a secret place that would help in the downfall of the Northern Water Tribe. She knew he would not dare to protest against her decision to join him. She didn't know what plan he had in mind, but she was eager to find out. She was not going to miss out on anything that could help in the success of this siege

She took off her armor, blew out the candle and went to sleep.

…

Yue and the Avatar's female companion looked out over the city from the citadel as the bald monk slumped over the balcony between them. "The legends say the moon was the first waterbender. Our ancestors saw how it pushed and pulled the tides and learned how to do it themselves." 

The waterbending girl looked on at the celestial sphere. **"**I've always noticed my waterbending is stronger at night."

Yue nodded, knowing of the effects of the moon on waterbending. She was a waterbender herself, having part of the moon spirit's life in her soul. She just didn't use it the way her Southern Water Tribe friend did, as a weapon of self-defense. She only used it to heal, as did many other women of her tribe. She took a breath of the cool night air, reveling in the light of the near-full moon. "Our strength comes from the Spirit of the Moon, our life comes from the Spirit of the Ocean. They work together to keep balance." 

Aang's eyes suddenly widened as he had an idea. "The spirits! Maybe I can find them and get their help!" 

The princess turned towards the boy. **"**How can you do that?" 

Katara's face lit up. **"**The Avatar is the bridge between our world and the Spirit World. Aang can talk to them!" 

A hopeful smile appeared on Yue's face. "Maybe they'll give you the wisdom to win this battle!" 

Aang waved his arms in the air. "Or maybe they'll unleash a crazy amazing spirit attack on the Fire Nation!" His two friends just stared at him.

The Avatar put his arms behind his back and grinned sheepishly. "Or wisdom. That's good too." 

Katara then frowned. "The only problem is, last time you got to the Spirit World by accident. How are you going to get there this time?" 

Yue suddenly recalled the place that would help. "I have an idea. Follow me!"

…

A figure sneaked along the edges of the sacred oasis, careful to not have the moonlight shine on him. He could hear voices in the middle of the oasis, and knew that his target was nearby.

"Is he okay?" 

"He's crossing into the Spirit World. He'll be fine as long as we don't move his body. That's his way back to the physical world."

"Maybe we should get some help?" 

"No, he's my friend. I'm perfectly capable of protecting him." 

He couldn't help but smirk at the waterbender's words. "Well, aren't you a big girl now?" he said as he stepped out of the shadows. 

"No!" the waterbender exclaimed as she turned at the sound of his voice.

He walked towards them quickly. "Hand him over, and I won't have to hurt you," he said.

The waterbender assumed a waterbending stance while her friend ran off. _Darn, she must be going to get some help, _he thought. _I'd better get this over with as soon as possible._

He fired several blasts of fire at the girl, but she deflected them off with ease. They continued to fight, but she soon had him on the defensive, and even had him encased in a frozen wave of water that fixed him to a spot ten feet or more in the air. He was defeated, but he wasn't about to give up that easily.

Feeling the warmth of the rising sun give him power, he released himself from his icy prison, then charged full speed forward at the waterbender, catching her off guard with a huge blast of fire. She was thrown backwards by the force of the blow, knocked out as she hit against the post of the gateway in the middle of the oasis.

The sun shone into the oasis, and the prince finally had his hands on the Avatar. Gripping the boy's collar firmly, he looked over the unconscious girl. "You rise with the moon. I rise with the sun," he said. Then he turned away and started to leave, the Avatar firmly in his grasp.

…

A Fire Navy ship dropped its bowsprit and sliced open the city's main wall. As Fire Nation troops poured into the city, Zhao stood on the prow of his ship, observing the advancement of his troops with Iroh at his side. "The Water Tribe can try to resist the inevitable. But their city will fall today."

Below deck, the Fire Nation princess buckled on her armor and steeled herself before glancing at her reflection in the mirror again. "Today is my moment of glory. I will make sure this day will be remembered forevermore."

…

In the oasis, Sokka and the Water Tribe Princess hopped down from Appa's saddle and ran towards his sister. "What happened? Where's Zuko?" 

Katara covered her face with her hands. "He took Aang. He took him right out from under me." Her brother looked over the two fish circling each other in the pool.

"Where did they go?"

The two fish did not answer him, but continued their eternal cycle with each other, oblivious to the happenings around them.


	3. Moon Of Red Blood

A group of waterbenders raised a Fire Nation tank on a block of ice and threw it at a group of enemy soldiers on armored Komodo rhinos. One of the soldiers became covered in snow from the impact of the tank, but he merely heated the snow and it melted off him in a cloud of steam.

His leader brandished an ancient-looking scroll in his fist. "We'll be following this map to a very special location. And when we get there…" A cruel smile spread over his face. "We're going fishing."

Just then another block of ice was sent flying his way by waterbenders. He raised his arms in an attempt to evade the attack, but no sooner had it come within a one-metre radius of him than it was struck by a blue blast of fire, melting it into water that splashed against his face.

He muttered curses as he wiped the water off his face. From behind him, a girl seated on a Komodo rhino smirked. "You need to be more careful, Admiral."

_Show-off, _he thought as he turned around and gave a curt nod. "Thank you for your concern and help, princess."

He didn't know why in Agni's sake had she wanted to come along with him and his soldiers, but he suspected that she already knew what they were looking for. He had commanded his soldiers not to breathe a word of the hunt for the Spirit Oasis to the princess, but one way or another she had found out about it and asked to come along. Oh well, at least he would be able to carry out his plan sooner. Sure, a few modifications were needed, but he was a flexible man, after all.

He turned to the front and steered his Komodo rhino forward. "We advance now."

...

As the banished prince fell to the ground unconscious, having been knocked out by waterbending, the Southern Water Tribe teen jumped out of the sky bison's saddle onto the ground and began freeing his bald friend from his bonds.

He examined the cut cords in his hands. "Hey! This is some quality rope!"

He then got back on the sky bison, his airbending friend close behind him. "We need to get to the oasis! The spirits are in trouble!"

As the Avatar took the reins, the white-haired princess in the saddle glanced at the unconscious prince on the cold snow-covered ground. _He'll die in this freezing weather, _she thought as she felt an unexpected trickle of sympathy for him.

Apparently the Avatar had the same thought. "Wait, we can't just leave him here."

The boomerang-slinging teen sat down next to his sister. "Sure we can. Let's go."

"No. If we leave him, he'll die." Aang jumped down from his sky bison, grabbed the prince's unconscious body, and struggled to bring him back to the furry beast.

His older friend just huffed in indignation. "Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. Let's bring the guy who's constantly trying to kill us!"

The Avatar then took the reins again, and the sky bison took off.

...

A troop of soldiers walked down a tunnel made of ice, led by their admiral and princess. They all held balls of fire in their hands to illuminate their way, being careful to not add too much energy to the fire in case it got too big and melted the ice walls around them.

They stopped at a crossroads. In front of them lay two gaping black holes, the entrance to two different tunnels. As the admiral paused to choose the right path, the princess standing beside him spoke. "Where to next, admiral?"

A small evil grin crossed his face as he pointed to the tunnel on the left, which was clearly too small to hold the entire troop at once. "This way. But the princess and I will go first. The rest of you will follow as soon as I give the word."

His soldiers nodded, and he and the princess advanced forward.

As they walked deeper into the tunnel, the walls around them seemed to close in on them. The passage grew narrower, forcing them to walk in single file. So the princess walked in front with the admiral behind her, which was exactly what he wanted.

He suddenly stopped walking, but the princess didn't notice and kept on walking until she came to a dead end. Turning around with a retort on her lips for the admiral's carelessness, she was shocked to see him firebending blasts of fire to the walls in between them. "What are you doing? You'll cause a cave-in!"

He had that evil grin on his face again. "Exactly my intention, princess." Then with one last powerful blast of fire, the walls finally gave way and started to tumble.

The princess immediately chased after the escaping admiral, but before she could take three steps the ice walls came crashing down on her. She was buried alive under the pile of rubble, while the admiral ran forward as fast as he could.

He ran back to where his soldiers were waiting for him with worried expressions on their faces. "What happened, sir? We heard a rumbling noise and thought you might be in trouble."

Faking a frightened expression, Zhao panted, "Oh, it was horrible! The princess and I had come to a dead end and were planning to turn back when suddenly the tunnel caved in! I managed to escape, thank Agni, but the princess was buried alive in the rubble!"

The soldiers exchanged horrified looks. Then one of them said, "Well, should we go and rescue her?"

Zhao shook his head. "It's too late now. We can't do any more without putting our own lives in danger. What we should do now is to carry on the mission. It's what the princess would have wanted us to do."

His soldiers nodded solemnly, then let their admiral lead them into the other tunnel. They walked with an air of gloom about them, mourning the loss of their brave princess who sacrificed herself for the good of her nation.

Zhao, on the other hand, hid a small grin on his face. He silently congratulated himself for having eliminated another obstacle in his path of glory. All he had to do now was to find the Spirit Oasis, destroy the Moon Spirit, and victory would be his.

...

Zuko opened his eyes a little, just enough to see what was going on without having the Avatar and his friends know that he had regained consciousness. The first thing he saw was a lock of snow-white hair, and then a girl his age silhouetted against the full moon. The moonlight illuminated her face, and he had to admit she looked rather beautiful.

Suddenly the whole sky was filled with a light as red as blood. The girl sitting beside him held her head in her hands and groaned in pain.

The waterbender's brother immediately turned his attention on her. "Are you okay?"

A grimace marred her pretty features. "I feel faint."

From the reins of the sky bison, Zuko could hear the Avatar groan softly too. "I feel it too." As they continued flying under the red moonlight he said, "The Moon Spirit is in trouble."

_The Moon Spirit in trouble? _the banished prince thought. It was probably the strangest thing he'd heard, and considering he'd traveled nearly all over the world in his search for the Avatar and heard a thousand other strange things before, that said something.

Suddenly the white-haired girl spoke. "I owed the Moon Spirit my life."

The Southern Water Tribe teen raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"When I was born I was very sick and very weak. Most babies cry when they're born, but I was born as if I were asleep, with my eyes closed. Our healers did everything they could. They told my mother and father I was going to die."

Zuko closed his eyes, remembering how his mother had told him once that he himself had nearly died at birth. He had been prematurely born and the royal physicians struggled just to keep him alive. Even so, he often fell sick several times in his early childhood, so he didn't start to learn firebending until he was older. It was one of the reasons why his sister, though younger than him by two years, surpassed him in her bending skills. Of course, she had a lot of talent as well, but he couldn't help thinking at times that had he began his training earlier, he wouldn't have been so far behind her. It was also why his father once said that he was "lucky to be born."

The girl continued talking, interrupting his train of thought. "My father pleaded with the spirits to save me. That night, beneath the full moon, he brought me to the oasis and placed me in the pond. My dark hair turned white, I opened my eyes and began to cry – and they knew I would live."

She paused for a while, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. "That's why my mother named me Yue, for the moon."

When she opened her eyes again, she noticed that the bound Fire Nation prince had awakened. Sokka had moved across the saddle to sit beside his sister, so she was alone at the back of the saddle with him. She quietly put a finger to her lips, motioning for him to be silent. He nodded and closed his eyes again, pretending to remain unconscious.

...

A mound of ice that broke off the walls lay somewhere in a dark tunnel; the remaining evidence of a cave-in. Suddenly the mound started trembling, then fell apart as an arm poked out from underneath. The arm was followed by a head and then by the rest of the Fire Nation princess. As she stood up, bruised and scraped up, she shook off the ice that covered her armor. Her eyes turned to a set of footprints on the ground and she growled angrily. She had been right when she had guessed that the admiral was not trustworthy, but she never imagined he would do this to her. An attempt to take the life of a member of the royal family was nothing short of high treason and she intended to make him face the punishment he deserved for his crimes. He would be very sorry once her father knew about this.

The important matter at hand, though, was to get out of here alive. She followed the footprints back to where the tunnel met another one and found a whole set of footprints leading into the other tunnel. She frowned for a moment, trying to decide whether she should just make her escape or follow the footprints and confront the admiral. Finally she made up her mind, and ran into the other tunnel after Zhao.


	4. Fighting Back

Yue's eyes darted back and forth between her friends and the bag in the admiral's hand, which contained the Moon Spirit's mortal form. The air was filled with a sense of danger and she knew that any wrong move might put the Moon Spirit in trouble, as well as her entire tribe.

The admiral held a dagger to the bag. "Don't bother!"

The Avatar immediately dropped his staff and raised his hands in surrender. "Zhao! Don't!"

Zhao only glared at the boy. "It's my destiny to destroy the Moon… and the Water Tribe."

Aang kept his arms raised and moved forward just a little. "Destroying the moon won't just hurt the Water Tribe. It will hurt everyone - including you. Without the moon, everything would fall out of balance. You have no idea what kind of chaos that would unleash on the world."

A loud voice rang from the other side of the oasis. "He is right, Zhao!"

They all turned around to see Iroh step out of the shadows.

Zhao shrugged. "General Iroh, why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?"

The general lowered the hood he wore around his face. "I'm no traitor, Zhao. The Fire Nation needs the moon too. We all depend on the balance."

The hand holding the bag started to tremble, but the rest of Zhao kept calm.

Iroh pointed a finger at the admiral. "Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash on you ten-fold!" He assumed a firebending stance and his eyes flashed with fury. "Let it go, NOW!"

The two locked eyes for a moment, then Zhao faltered, lowering the bag. He kneeled and released the fish back into the water. The red light of the moon vanished, replaced by its celestial glow. Suddenly Zhao's face was overtaken by a look of madness and desperation. With a cry of rage he stood and hit the water with a blast of fire.

It all happened too quickly, but in a split-second a giant wave of water and a huge blast of fire came flying at the admiral. They collided just above his head, and sent everyone flying backwards. The whole oasis was shrouded in plumes of smoke from the impact.

Sokka rubbed his sore back which hurt from falling backwards all of a sudden. He then turned to his sister, assuming she bent the wave of water at Zhao. However, to his surprise he found her sitting on the ground, equally surprised. Just as he turned to look for Aang, who was the only other one who might have bent the water, he saw Yue standing in front of them, her arms outstretched, panting as if she'd just run around the whole Northern Water Tribe twice. His eyebrows shot up in shock. "You did that...?"

The princess took a deep breath, then finally lowered her arms. "Yes."

...

On the other side of the oasis, Zhao slumped against the post of the gateway in the middle of the oasis, having been thrown backwards by a great burst. As he opened his eyes, he was shocked to discover his princess standing before him with a fierce glare in her eye. "You... you're alive?"

"Yes. Never thought that, did you Zhao?" Azula then shot a fireball at the admiral.

...

Iroh slowly got up from the ground where he had been knocked flat. He saw Zhao's soldiers slowly come to their senses, then advance towards him. Obviously they thought he had bent the fire at their admiral, but it wasn't him. He did have a slight clue to who it was though; he had managed to see a blaze of blue pass him by.

He had to tackle the matter at hand, though, so he proceeded to send blast after blast of fire at the soldiers.

...

As Aang raised his arms to shield himself from the smoke, an image flashed across his mind: the white and black koi fish circling each other in the oasis, morphing into the symbol that represented yin and yang. He knew what he had to do to win this war now.

Getting up, he walked slowly into the water, then came to a stop in the middle with his arms folded in meditation. The eyes of the two fish began to glow white, as do the identical marks on their spines. The Avatar's tattoos also began to glow and then he plunged into the pond as if the bottom had fallen out of it.

...

The admiral and Fire Nation princess shot blasts of fire at each other, neither gaining the upper hand. However, Zhao wore a struggling look on his face, while Azula merely smirked at his attempt to hold off her attacks. "You're too weak, Admiral," she taunted as she sent another fireball at him.

He swept his arm around, blocking off the fire. "I am not!" He then suddenly sent a ball of fire directly at the princess' face. She was caught off-guard and toppled backwards, while he seized his chance and fled the oasis.

...

A huge blue creature with white veins emerged from the pool, with the Avatar in a glowing orb located at the heart of the behemoth. It began to descend down into the city, sweeping away the Fire Nation troops with giant waves as if they were nothing more threatening than ants. As it roamed through the city, ridding it of its enemies, the waterbenders bowed on their knees in honour of their protector spirit.

...

Azula was on her feet in a second and her eyes searching the oasis for any sign of the cowardly admiral. However, a hand grabbed hers and pulled her away from the oasis. She turned to see a white-haired girl slightly older than her leading her through the tunnel that was the entrance and exit to the mystical place.

"Where are you taking me?"

The girl merely continued running with her in tow. "I'll help you escape!"

She found herself led through the streets of the city, carefully avoiding any Water Tribe or Fire Nation soldiers. They kept on running until they came to an ice tunnel, which seemed to be some kind of sewage system, only cleaner.

The girl headed into the tunnel, but Azula hung behind. "I am not going in there. Who knows what kind of things might be inside?"

The girl stopped, turned around and smiled. "Who knows, indeed?" Then before Azula could protest, the white-haired girl had taken her into the tunnel.

…

Zhao ran over a foot bridge, trying to flee the city. As he exited onto a parapet, a blast of fire hit the wall in front of him, merely missing him by mere inches. As the smoke cleared, he looked up to see the banished Fire Nation prince on the wall up above him.

An incredulous look crossed the admiral's face. "You're alive too?"

"You tried to have me killed!" Zuko then launched a few fire blasts at Zhao, but his target dodged, rolling along the parapet wall.

Zhao's voice was filled with venom. "Yes, I did. You're the Blue Spirit – and an enemy of the Fire Nation!"

From behind them, the combined energy of the Avatar and the Moon and Ocean Spirits flowed down the main canal of the city.

Zhao continued glaring at Zuko angrily. "You freed the Avatar!" 

"I had no choice!" The banished prince then continued his attack, firing volley after volley at Zhao, who blocked them with his hands held together in front of him. As the blasts subsided, Zhao dropped his smoking cloak to the ground.

"The Fire Lord obviously didn't teach his children any sense. You should have chosen to accept your failure – your disgrace! Then, at least you could have lived!"

The admiral then returned fire. The two traded volleys as the fight raged back and forth in the darkness. Finally Zuko took his chance to fire at Zhao's unguarded chest. Zhao fell off the parapet wall onto the ground below as a result of the impact.

The two continued to battle on a foot bridge over a canal. They traded blows, but a series of direct hits from Zuko laid the Admiral flat. As he jumped forward to deliver a fatal blow to Zhao's chest, a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder. The prince turned around to see his uncle.

"That is enough, Prince Zuko. You have gained victory over the same opponent once again, and it would be wise to retreat at the proper time."

He then turned to the admiral who was sprawled on the ground. "You tried again and again to eliminate your enemy, yet you always failed. Now let the Fire Lord decide your fate, Admiral Zhao." Then he walked away with his nephew, leaving Zhao to get up and run in the opposite direction.

…

After a while the white-haired girl finally stopped, leaving Azula to catch her breath. Once she had, she narrowed her eyes at the girl. "Who are you? What is this place?"

The white-haired girl explained. "I am Yue, princess of the Northern Water Tribe. This tunnel leads to a secret underground cave where a boat is kept, so you can use that to escape. Just keep on sailing until you reach the exit, which will take you to outside the city wall. From there you can sail back to wherever you came from."

Azula was confused. "Why are you doing this all for me? Surely you know that I am from the Fire Nation, which is the nation that's invading your tribe right now?"

The Water Tribe princess didn't seem to be alarmed at the fact that she was helping someone from the enemy. "Even if you are from the opposing side, you did attack the admiral just when he was going to kill the Moon Spirit, thus preventing its death. When I saw that he was going to do it, I tried to waterbend to stop him, but I have never bended for a long time and I wasn't sure it would be enough. Thankfully with your fire blast he was thrown backwards and didn't hurt the spirit."

Now Azula was bewildered. She just wanted to attack the admiral by surprise at the time, and she had no idea she had just prevented a spirit from dying. She was still trying to make sense of everything when the ground suddenly shook below them.

A great force hit the entrance of the tunnel, causing the ice walls to tremble. There was a loud noise outside while a battle raged outside the entrance, when suddenly the walls gave way. As the frozen tunnel started to collapse, Azula realized a waterbender would be a good immediate asset and grabbed Yue's hand. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

This time it was Azula leading the way as the two ran along the fast-collapsing tunnel. The tunnel led to an underground cave where, just as Yue said, a boat was moored along the shore. The two girls quickly jumped in, and then Yue raised her arms to create a giant wave that pushed them forward to the mouth of the cave. They zoomed forward with great speed, barely making it out of the cave before it collapsed.

Azula held on to the sides of the boat for dear life and muttered under her breath. "You'd think one cave-in would have been enough for a day."

Yue paid no attention to her companion as she steered the boat away from the walls of the city she called home. Suddenly the great shadow of a Fire Nation battleship loomed over the small Water Tribe boat. The smaller craft sailed silently along the edges of the bigger one, with no attention drawn to its presence.

As the battleship was left behind, Azula noticed the worried look on the other princess' face. "What's wrong?"

Yue merely shook her head, then pointed in the direction of the battleship and the many others that trailed behind it. "There's no way I can sail back without getting noticed by all those Fire Nation troops. By the time they've all sailed a safe distance away, we'll probably have reached the shores of the Earth Kingdom already."

Azula shrugged. "So?"

"So how am I going to get back now?"

"You could just sail back after we've reached the Earth Kingdom shores."

The Water Tribe princess smiled bitterly. "It's three weeks to the Earth Kingdom from here if we have fair weather, and who knows if this old boat can last that long?"

"You have a point." Azula leaned against the side of the boat. "Well, at least you're not the only one who's not returning home."

Yue turned to face her. "What do you mean?"

The firebending prodigy gazed at the horizon. "Even if I manage to sail this thing all the way to the Fire Nation in one piece, Zhao will have been back much earlier. By then he'd probably had told my father about my 'treachery'. I'd be just like a lamb-calf that sent itself to the mouth of the tiger-fox's cave. And I can't 'silence' him with so many people around or else I'd be compounding his claim."

"Oh." The two girls sat in the boat in silence for a few minutes. Then Yue raised her head. "So what should we do then?"

Azula crossed her arms along the rail of the boat. "The best we can do now is to get to the Earth Kingdom safely, then try to survive on our own until we figure out a way to get back."

"Okay." Another moment of silence followed, then Yue spoke. "Do you think we could make it?"

Azula smirked. "Please. We're both ladies of high-born status. I doubt we can't handle it." She then allowed a small but genuine smile to cross her face. "Really, I think we'll be fine. As long as we pull ourselves together, I'm sure we'll be able to make it." She then thought to herself, _Or at least you will until I no longer need you. _

Yue smiled back at her new companion, who then got up and stood beside the mast of the boat.

"So, do you think you can teach me how to sail this thing?"

…

As the Avatar and his waterbending friend looked over the city that had regained peace, their older companion landed the sky bison beside them. The bald monk turned to him. "Any luck?"

The Water Tribe boy shook his head. "No sign of her. I've looked through the entire city." As he jumped off the bison, their pet flying lemur jumped up on his shoulder. He joined his friends as they stood together.

Finally Aang broke the silence. "Well, at least we saved the Northern Water Tribe. And I'm sure Princess Yue is safe somewhere else."

The older boy gave a half-hearted reply. "Yeah." His mind, however, was trying to figure out the whereabouts of his beloved princess. _Where could she be?_


	5. On Earth Kingdom Shores

The Fire Lord was seated on his throne, silhouetted by the flames that wreath his dais. Before him knelt Admiral Zhao, with his head bowed low.

Ozai's voice thundered through the whole throne room. "Admiral Zhao, I sent you on a task to take down the Northern Water Tribe and you disappointed me. Not only did you let victory slip through your hands, you also managed to let Iroh and the banished prince get away, as well as allow the betrayal of my daughter Princess Azula."

Zhao did not even dare to look up as his ruler read out his failings to the entire room of generals and officials.

"However, after much discussion with my most trusted advisors, I have decided to let you redeem yourself by undertaking another mission. You will capture the traitors for me, and this time you will not fail me."

Zhao bowed his head even lower so that it almost touched the ground. "Yes, Your Highness."

As the admiral exited the throne room, Ozai smirked to himself. _Cherish your second chance, Admiral Zhao. It will be the last you get._

...

_Eight-year-old Yue stood surrounded by clouds, wondering where on earth she was. Suddenly the cloud in front of her started to morph into the image of a Water Tribe woman. The little girl gasped when she saw who it was._

"_Mom…?"_

_The woman wore a sad expression on her face. "Why did you run away, Yue? Why did you let me sacrifice myself in your place?"_

_Tears started to well up in the little girl's eyes. "I didn't mean to, Mom! I'm so sorry!" She reached out her hands to touch her mother, but the woman just faded into thin air and disappeared._

_Two lines of tears were streaming down the little girl's cheeks now. "Don't go, Mom! Come back! I'm sorry!"_

_The clouds around her started to grow dark, and suddenly a flash of lightning flashed in front of her. A peal of thunder shook the spot where she was standing, and she could feel herself starting to fall…_

...

Yue awoke with a scream from her slumber. She looked around her in panic, and finally realized it was just a dream. A bigger problem awaited her, though. The boat was shaking furiously in a thunderstorm, and her new friend was trying to keep the two of them afloat.

Azula held onto the ropes that held the mast tightly, trying to steer the craft away from the storm. She spotted her newly-awakened companion and gestured to her. "Hey, a little help here?"

Yue was on her feet in a second. "You steer the boat, I'm going to try to get us to land!"

She raised her arms and created a giant wave, pushing the boat forward. Using all her strength, she manipulated the waves to keep them afloat, all while trying to see any land ahead through the pouring rain.

Finally she spotted something. "There! I see land up ahead!" She doubled her efforts to push the boat towards the shore.

Azula narrowed her eyes to see through the rain. "We're heading straight for rocks!"

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the two of them were thrown off the boat by a great force. They fell into the ankle-deep water that lay around the brink of the cove. Behind them, the boat started to crack and slowly sank into the water as the waves lapped against the big boulders that lined the outside of the cove.

Azula mopped the salty seawater away from her face and stood up before turning towards Yue. "Come on. The sooner we get out of this horrid weather the better."

The waterbender pushed herself up and the two wandered off to find some shelter.

...

With a punch of her fist, Azula set a small pile of driftwood on fire. She then sat down beside the fire, using her bending to evaporate the water off her wet clothes. Across from her, Yue sat hugging her knees, staring at the fire intensely. The dark-haired princess finished drying herself off, then turned to her companion. "Hey, you're not going to dry up?"

Yue lifted her head slightly as if she had just awakened from a trance. "Oh, right." She stood up and did a figure-eight motion with her hands, bending away the water from her clothes. After casting the water aside, she sat down again.

Azula regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "You've been a little off ever since we got stuck here. What's wrong?"

Yue shrugged her shoulders. "Oh, nothing. I was just thinking about the boat."

A look of realization crossed Azula's face. "Oh, the boat. Come to think of it, what's so special about the boat? And how does a Water Tribe princess learn how to steer one?"

Yue laughed softly. "My mother taught me."

Now both Azula's eyebrows were raised. "What?"

The white-haired girl shifted her position to make herself more comfortable. "My mother was raised in the Southern Water Tribe. They weren't as strict on women as we were, so she learned to do a lot of things, like waterbending and sailing. Her parents were both waterbenders, which meant that when the Fire Nation raids started, it was no longer safe for them to remain in the South Pole.

"So my grandfather moved his family to the Northern Water Tribe, traveling through the Earth Kingdom. My mother was a young teen when they left the South Pole, and by the time they arrived at the North she had grown into a young woman. She and her family soon settled down among the rest of the tribe.

"At the time, my father had come of age and was looking for a wife. He took a liking to my mother and asked my grandfather for her hand in marriage. My grandfather accepted, and my mother didn't mind either. So a few months later, my parents were married.

"Although she was now the wife of the new Northern Water Tribe chief, she refused to be a mere submissive wife as the rest of the women were. She still practiced her waterbending, though not as publicly as she used to, and after I was a bit older she taught all she knew to me. I was a pretty fast learner, which didn't make my father particularly thrilled. But he didn't stop us, so all was fine."

Azula leaned her head on her knees. "So that's how. You're not exactly the average princess, huh?"

Yue shrugged again. "I guess. At least that's what I used to be."

Azula shrugged as well. "If that's how you say it. But what does that boat mean to you that you can't stop thinking about it for so long?"

The Water Tribe princess smiled. "After my mother got married, my grandfather made her a boat in the Southern style as a gift, and she passed it on to me."

"Oh." The firebending prodigy stifled a yawn. "Speaking of which, it's getting a bit late. We should get some sleep."

"Alright. Good night, Azula." As Yue watched her friend fall asleep, her thoughts turned back to the lost boat, one of the last things her mother left to her. Remembering the dream she'd had earlier on, she shuddered as she recalled the sad expression her mother had worn on her face. Trying to fight back the tears, she lay down and tried to fall asleep as well.

...

"I understand you may have mixed feelings about attacking members of the royal family. But I assure you, if you hesitate to capture the traitors, the Fire Lord will not hesitate to pass sentence on you immediately. Dismissed."

As the soldiers marched off, the captain of the ship approached the admiral. "Admiral, I'm afraid the tides will not allow us to bring the ship in to port before nightfall."

Zhao turned to glare at him. "Can you repeat what you just said, captain?"

The captain gulped nervously. "The tides do not allow us to dock for the time being, Admiral."

"I see." Zhao stepped closer to the trembling captain, who tried hard to stand his place. "Tell me, captain, do you think the Fire Lord would let some mere tides to delay him from achieving his goals?"

The captain trembled even more. "No, Admiral."

"And do you think he will allow you to just walk away after having caused such a delay without a punishment that befits your crime?"

The captain bowed his head. "I'll bring us in." He then ran off towards the cabin, leaving the admiral alone on the deck.

Zhao closed his eyes and took a deep breath. _The traitors are here. I can feel it._

...

The former Dragon of the West emptied a bag of seashells on a table, then lifted a few while inspecting them. "Look at these magnificent shells! I'll enjoy these keepsakes for years to come."

His nephew groaned beside him. "We don't need any more useless things. You forget we have to carry everything ourselves now."

"Greetings, Prince Zuko and General Iroh."

The two turned their heads to see Admiral Zhao at the doorway, flanked by two Fire Nation soldiers. Zuko narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Zhao smirked at the banished prince. "So quick to get to the point, are you? Well, I'm not here to waste time anyway.

"I've come with a message from the motherland. The Fire Lord has changed his mind. Family is suddenly very important to him. He has heard rumors of plans to overthrow him—treacherous plots. He has decided that family are the only ones you can really trust." He cleared his throat, then continued. "The Fire Lord regrets your banishment. He wants you home."

Zuko glanced out the window in disbelief. "Father... wants me home?"

Zhao took out a scroll from the inside of his armour. "If you need any further proof, this decree has been stamped with the Fire Lord's own royal seal. It announces the lifting of banishment of Prince Zuko."

Iroh took the scroll from the admiral, then studied it carefully. Zhao didn't wait for him to finish reading it and snatched it away from the old general's hands, emitting a dirty look from him. "I can see you need time to take this in. I'll come to call on you tomorrow. Good evening."

He then walked out the door, leaving the banished prince and former general alone in the little hut.


	6. Seeking Refuge

The sunlight streamed in through Yue's half-shut eyes as she woke up. It took her a second to figure out why she was sleeping in a cave with the sound of the crashing of the waves against the shore audible in the background. She got to her feet, then looked around the cave for her friend, who was nowhere to be seen.

Just then a figure strutted into the cave with a small bundle slung over her shoulder. "Here, take these." She tossed the bundle to Yue, who opened it to find a pile of clothes. Yue turned to the firebender, and noticed she was wearing a different outfit. "Where did you get this?"

Azula fiddled around with her hair, which was tied with a simple ornament instead of the golden crest she used to wear. "I picked it up from a campsite. Some nomads were camping in the woods nearby and left their stuff lying around, so I helped myself."

The white-haired girl's widened in shock. "But you're stealing from them!"

Azula continued to tidy her hair, acting nonchalantly. "No, they were giving up their things for all and sundry to take them. Even if I left them alone, some other bloke would come along and take it."

She took out a small pouch from her pocket and jingled it in front of Yue. "Besides, now we can get some real food. I don't know about you, but after three weeks of eating nothing but fried fish, I'm ready for a change in the menu."

"What's wrong with the fish?" Yue was now holding up one of the clothes, which was a green long-sleeved dress with a pale-coloured trimming that came to her knees. "Who wears this anyway?"

Azula shrugged. "That was the best I could find. The others all came in the different colours of the rainbow, and more besides. Goodness knows what else they have." She dropped the pouch back into her pocket. "And I know the fish you catch is fresh and I am quite skilled at frying them, but we humans aren't made to live on fish solely, after all."

The firebender started walking out of the cave, then turned her head around. "Oh, and you might like to trim your hair a bit. The simpler your hairdo is, the less likely we're going to attract any attention. I'll be waiting outside."

Yue watched her walk out, then pulled out a dagger from the folds of her robe. She unsheathed it and gazed at the inscription for a moment, then held it to her hair. Her white locks fell off with a swift movement of her wrist.

She hid the white hair behind a rock, then proceeded to change her clothes.

...

Azula wrinkled her face at the bowl of hot komodo-chicken noodle soup lying in front of her. "How does anyone eat this?"

Yue had already held up a strand of noodle with her chopsticks, then placed it into her mouth. "It doesn't taste too bad."

"Yeah, but obviously the owner of this shop doesn't know about hygienic regulations." Azula picked at the food with her chopsticks.

Yue swallowed her food, then took some more. "Well, it's not exactly filthy, just not as clean as we're accustomed to. Under the current circumstances, we don't have many choices to choose from."

Azula finally picked a strand of noodle up unwillingly. "I guess you're right." She slurped it down and exaggerated an expression of disgust, then watched her companion eat her noodles. "By the way, you should still cover your hair."

Yue put a hand to her hair, which now hung down in a short ponytail. "Why?"

Azula gestured to the cone-shaped straw hat that Yue now wore hanging behind her neck. "Shorter hair is less noticeable, but the white colour will still raise some attention."

"Okay."

Suddenly Azula spotted some Fire Nation soldiers coming into the shop. "Quick, put on your hat!" She pulled down Yue's hat from behind her neck, almost strangling her in the process.

"Hey!" Yue was immediately shushed by Azula's finger at her lips, which then pointed to the soldiers who had taken a seat at a table not far away from theirs. The two lowered their heads so the soldiers could not see their faces.

A trembling busboy walked over to the soldiers' table, shivering with fright. "May... may I help you?"

One of the soldiers which seemed to be the leader smirked at him. "Give us your finest food, boy. We want only the best from your dingy stall. Otherwise..." He produced a fireball in his palm, causing the busboy to tremble even more. "We might be tempted to reduce this dump to ashes."

"Yes sir!" The busboy then scurried away to the kitchen.

As the soldiers were left alone, they began to converse in hushed tones. "Do you really think the princess is hiding in this little seaside village?" one of them asked the leader.

He scratched his chin in thought. "Could be. It is the closest land to the North Pole, after all. And the admiral has found the prince and his uncle here, too."

Azula kept a small gasp from escaping her mouth. _So Zuzu and Uncle are here too._

The first soldiers shrugged. "Well, the admiral does seem pretty uptight about this mission. Normally we wouldn't make it from the North Pole to the Fire Nation and back in three weeks, but he somehow made that happen."

"Yeah." Another soldier stretched his back. "By giving everyone on the ship double overtime just so he could redeem himself. I haven't slept properly ever since we started on our journey from the motherland."

"No kidding. I think I've got eye bags worse than my grandmother's." They all laughed at that, just as the busboy arrived with their food.

Azula was silent, then suddenly she got up and laid some money on the table. "Let's go."

Yue stood up as well, rather surprised. "Go where?"

"Away from here." She then pulled her own hat lower over her face and walked out of the shop, leaving Yue to run after her.

...

Iroh eyed the soldiers standing along the two sides of the path leading to the ship suspiciously. He had agreed to come with his nephew for Zuko's safety, but that didn't make him any less cautious. Something in the back of his mind was telling him that there was something amiss, but he couldn't find out what.

Zhao stood at the top of the stairs leading onto the ship, a soldier on each side. He bowed respectfully. "It is my greatest honour to escort Prince Zuko and General Iroh home."

Zuko had a wistful look on his face. "Home... " He began to board the ship with hs uncle.

Just then, the captain walked up to the admiral. "Are we ready to depart, Admiral?"

Zhao nodded, and the captain turned to his men. "You heard the admiral! Raise the anchors! We're taking the prisoners ho-"

He stopped talking all of a sudden and shot a mortified look at Zhao, who looked enraged. Zuko and his uncle both wore surprised expressions on their faces.

"Admiral, I..."

Zuko's eyes widened with shock. Iroh immediately took action, backhanding a soldier off of the ship and kicking another down the incline. Another soldier approached him but he just elbowed him off the incline. As he took down one soldier after another, Zuko stormed up to Zhao, throwing a soldier off the ship in the process. "What is the meaning of this, Zhao?"

Zhao smirked as he took out the scroll he had shown them the day before. He unrolled it and pointed to the seal. "This is the Fire Lord's royal seal – or at least it was before your banishment, Prince Zuko. Two years ago, Fire Lord Ozai had a new seal made to mark the third anniversary of his coronation. This seal is no longer valid."

He burned the scroll with his fist, then took out another larger scroll. "This is the real decree, which declares the treachery of Prince Zuko and General Iroh, and orders their immediate capture." He waved it in front of Zuko's nose. "Does that make things clearer, Prince Zuko?"

Zuko growled furiously. "You lied to me!"

He shot a fireball at Zhao, who easily deflected it and sent his own fire back. The two old enemies were locked in battle again, like so many times before.

Zhao taunted the banished prince as they fought. "You know the Fire Lord blames your uncle for the loss at the North Pole. And he considers you a miserable failure for not capturing the Avatar. Why would he want you back home, except to lock you up where you can no longer embarrass him?"

Zuko growled ferociously and sent a big blast of fire at the admiral, but Zhao just sent it back at him, knocking the boy off his feet. Through Zuko's blurry vision, he could just make out Zhao preparing to send a blast of fire directly at his chest.

Suddenly Iroh jumped in front of Zhao, kicking him overboard. As the admiral splashed into the water, the former general grabbed his nephew and ran away from the ship, leaving Zhao to splash around in the water in an attempt to get on land.

...

The two girls ran along a small path beside a river, not stopping until the older one ran out of breath. As she stopped and bent over to catch her breath, she looked at the younger girl. "What was that for?"

The raven-haired girl continued to stare ahead. "Didn't you hear what the soldiers said back in the shop?"

Yue straightened herself. "Something about how they were working overtime?"

"They said that Zhao has found my brother and uncle and that he's looking for me. Think about it. Why would he be aiming to find all three of us?"

Yue gasped. "You don't think... he's out to capture you, right?"

Azula shook her head sadly. "I'm no longer a princess. I'm a traitor to my father and my nation. And all because one little admiral was trying to kill me."

Yue raised an eyebrow. "Kill you?"

Azula nodded. "Back in the North Pole, Zhao caused a cave-in that almost buried me alive. I could've easily boarded one of the ships returning to the Fire Nation and told my father the truth, but who knows whether I'll be able to get back alive without meeting some 'accident'? And now I don't have a home to return to any more. I'm just like my brother: an outcast."

The two were silent for a while, then Yue put a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Well, I don't know if we can't change that. I'm sure we'll find a way for both of us to return home. We just have to be patient."

She smiled encouragingly at Azula, who smiled back. "Don't worry. We'll be fine. I know it."

Azula nodded again, then looked behind them. "Zhao and his men will be searching for me. We'd better go."

The two of them then continued walking, while the river beside them flowed along its path reflecting their images on its surface.


	7. A Platypus Bear Attack

Yue stood by the river and used her waterbending to trap an unlucky fish in a sphere of water. Lifting the fish out of the river, she added it to a basket filled with its kind that lay beside her.

Azula walked out of the bushes nearby with a bag slung over her shoulder. She peered into the basket. "This has to be enough for at least the next two meals." She set the bag down on the ground and smirked. "I remember how Zuzu used to fall into the water while trying to catch the fish in the pond in the royal gardens when he was little. His fishing skills are so poor, he couldn't even catch a minnow-eel."

A few miles down the river, Zuko suddenly sneezed loudly, startling his target that was resting between some river weeds at the side of the river. The minnow-eel quickly swam away and the banished prince threw down his fishing rod in frustration. "Ugh! Why can't I even catch a minnow-eel!"

Back up the river, Azula was frying the fish her companion had caught while Yue rummaged through the bag. She found a few berries and nuts, some mushrooms that probably weren't edible, and not much else. "Azula, is this all you could find?"

Azula turned the fish on its side, then continued frying. "My forestry skills aren't very good. And anyway, there are pitifully few edible things growing in this forest."

Yue sighed as she put the bag down. "Why can't we just find something to eat in the next town? It's not that far off, is it?"

Azula cooled off the fish by bending away the heat. "I don't want to waste too much money, and who knows if we'll bump into Zhao and his soldiers in town. They'll search the nearby towns and villages first for me, so it'll be unwise to just hang out where they're most likely to find us."

Yue shrugged. "If you say so." She took the fish the firebender offered her and started eating. "At least freshwater fish tastes different from saltwater ones."

Azula was just about to bite into her fish when suddenly the bushes behind them rustled violently. The two girls were on their feet in an instant, staring at the rustling bushes. Suddenly, a boy staggered out of the bushes, clutching his chest which was bleeding at an alarming rate.

"Help me…" He had not said more than two words before he collapsed at Yue's feet.

While the white-haired girl got to her knees to try to help the boy, her friend eyed the bushes suspiciously. _The boy was obviously wounded by something… but what?_

Her question was answered by a platypus-bear suddenly charging through the bushes straight towards her. Thinking quickly, she took a couple of steps backward, then unleashed a roundhouse kick, sending a wave of flames at the beast. It reared backwards for a few seconds, then charged forwards again.

The firebending prodigy sent fireball after fireball at the animal in an attempt to keep it from hurting her or Yue. It tried to attack her, but could not get close enough without getting burnt. A blast of fire landed on it, setting a patch of its fur aflame. The platypus-bear growled in pain, then stomped away through the bushes it had come from.

Breathing heavily, Azula turned to the older princess, who had coated her hands with water from the river and was now pressing them against the boy's wound. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to heal him using waterbending." Yue looked up at the dark-haired girl. "Try to find some bandages for his wound."

Azula searched through the pile of clothing she'd taken from the nomads' camp before. She pulled out a red silk belt decorated with a white floral pattern. "Will this do?"

Yue moved her hands away from the boy's chest and took the belt from the younger girl's outstretched hand. "It should be fine." She wrapped the belt around the boy's chest and tied it with a knot.

"Where could he come from? And how do we find his family?" Again, Azula's question was answered by someone else emerging from the bushes. He was a man with a carpenter's toolbox slung over his shoulder, calling for someone. "Tao! Tao, where are you?"

The man stopped short when he noticed the two girls, one standing and one kneeling over the boy's wounded body. "What… what happened to my son?"

Yue got up while her friend answered the man's question. "Long story, but for now, we need to get your son home."

…

"You two must not be from around here. We know better than to touch the white jade, much less make it into tea and drink it." The healer was applying some ointment to Iroh's rashes, while his nephew sat behind them and looked down at the floor, a straw hat obscuring his face.

The old man grinned sheepishly. "Heh heh heh. Whoops!"

The healer continued applying the ointment. "So where are you traveling from?"

The scarred teen stood up immediately. "Yes, we're travelers."

"Do you have names?"

Zuko hesitated. "Names? Of course we have names. I'm... Lee. And this is my uncle, uh... Mushi."

Iroh shot him an unhappy look from behind the healer's back, then turned to her. "Yes,  
>my nephew was named after his father, so we just call him Junior."<p>

He looked over the healer's shoulder again to see his nephew ball his fists at the name his uncle has just bestowed on him.

The healer was unaware of the actions of her patient and his nephew. "Mushi and Junior, huh? My name is Song. You two look like you could use a good meal." She turned and swatted Iroh's hand away from scratching his rash. "Why don't you stay for dinner?"

"Sorry, but we need to be moving on."

The healer was just about to say something when a man rushed into the hospital. "Quick! My son has been badly injured! I need a healer immediately!"

A middle-aged man ran out from behind and followed the man out. The healer watched them disappear into the distance, then continued attending to her patient. "That's too bad. My mom always makes too much roast duck."

The old general's ears perked up. "Where do you live, exactly?"

…

Inside a small Earth Kingdom house, Yue ladled a spoon of herbal soup and held it to Tao's mouth. He had awakened just around the time his father had come back with a healer from the next town, who had tended to his wounds and prescribed some medicinal herbs to strengthen his immunity. The boy opened his mouth, swallowed the soup and grimaced.

The white-haired girl put down the bowl of soup. "I know it doesn't taste too good, but it will help you recover sooner."

The boy sighed. "All this for a platypus-bear egg. What was I thinking?"

Yue raised an eyebrow. "A platypus-bear egg?"

Tao nodded. "Yeah. I discovered a platypus-bear's nest in a cave nearby a few months ago. That time I took an egg home, and we all had omelettes for dinner that night. I thought I would get lucky again, but as it turned out, the mother came home before I was able to get away. They tend to be really ferocious when it comes to their eggs and young."

"And your father knew about this?"

"I told him that I'd found a wild ostrich-horse's egg. Ostrich-horses mostly leave their eggs alone until nightfall when they come back from looking for food. I'm not going to let my dad worry about me."

An amused smile appeared on the waterbender's face. "Yet your father had to go all the way to the next town to get a healer to tend to you."

Tao looked down. "Okay, so I lost my good judgment for a while back there. It was just this once."

He looked out the window at his two younger siblings playing with a ball. "Ever since Mom died a few years ago, Dad's had to work extra hard to make ends meet. Usually he goes out to work in the day while I watch Qiang and Rou at home. I'm the one who's supposed to take care of the household while my dad's away, not get into trouble with a platypus-bear."

Yue laid a hand on his shoulder. "I think you make a fine big brother. You just need to be more careful, okay?"

The boy turned to look and her and smiled. "Okay."

…

Azula watched the two children play some kind of game with a ball while sitting on the steps of the house and resting her head on her hands, feeling very bored. She didn't want to stay here, but the boy's father had insisted they stay for dinner to thank them for rescuing his son, and she couldn't see where else they could get a meal anyway. She wasn't about to battle another platypus-bear again just so she could get some fish from the river.

The boy kicked a ball in the air towards his sister, who failed to catch it. He pumped his fist in the air in victory while the girl pouted. "No fair! You won again!"

Her brother shrugged at her. "Sorry Rou, but the real kick-a-ball champion is me."

_Kick-a-ball, huh? Well, the little brat is about to eat his words. _Azula strode over to the two children. "Mind if I join in your little game?"

The boy raised an eyebrow. "I dunno. You think you can handle it, old lady?"

Azula smirked at his cockiness. "Why don't you try me, little whippersnapper?"

Qiang narrowed his eyes at the teenager. "You're on!"

He picked up the ball from the ground, then held it in his hand. "Okay, so the rules are simple. The players kick a ball to one another without letting it touch the ground, and whoever drops it is eliminated until there's only one winner left. Got it?"

The firebending prodigy smiled devilishly. "I know it like the back of my palm."

She readied herself while her opponent bounced the ball on his foot twice, then kicked it to her. The ball soared through the air, and she deftly caught it with her foot and kicked it back to him. Rou's eyes followed the ball's every move, watching as it flew back and forth between the two players.

Qiang was soon backed up against a tree. Azula noted that a tree root lay just behind his feet. With a kick of her foot, she sent the ball flying straight towards his head. As he stepped backwards, he tripped over the root and fell down, leaving the ball to soar above his head.

Azula walked over towards him and offered her hand. 'Who's the champion now?"

The boy pulled himself up with her help, then dusted off the dirt on his clothes. "Okay, I admit it. You were pretty good."

Rou bounded over to the older girl excitedly. "Please, please can you teach me how to do that?"

"I don't see why not." Just then, the kids' father walked out from inside the house. "Dinner is served!"

…

Tao and Yue sat together on the roof, watching the stars twinkle above them. Yue sighed with pleasure. "It's a beautiful night."

The boy grinned at her. "I know. When my mom was still alive, she would take me here and we would sit together quietly and watch the stars. Now I come up here every time I miss her, and when I see the stars, I remember that she's up there watching over me."

Yue looked at him. "Do you still miss her a lot?"

Tao shrugged. "Not as much any more. Besides, she's not completely gone. She still lives here, in my heart." He put his hand to the left of his chest.

Yue smiled at him warmly. Suddenly, the two heard footsteps marching towards the house. A troop of Fire Nation soldiers walked up to the front of the house, just as Tao's father came running out. Yue narrowed her eyes at the leader of the soldiers, who was Admiral Zhao. "We'd better get down."

The admiral brandished a poster in front of the Earth Kingdom peasant's face. "I'm looking for these two men. They're traitors of the Fire Nation."

The father of three scrutinized the faces of the old man and the scarred teen on the poster carefully. He remembered seeing an old man accompanied by a teenage boy being treated at the hospital when he went to get a healer for his son, but he didn't see their faces clearly. "I haven't seen them before."

The admiral took back the poster, then took out another one. "Very well. What about this girl then?"

Tao's father's eyes widened at the picture of the girl on the poster. Wasn't that the same girl who had helped save his son and was playing with his children earlier? "I… can't say I've seen her either."

Zhao narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You do know that anyone who offers shelter or does not report seeing these traitors will be arrested for treason?"

The man started to fidget, but he calmed himself down. "No, I have not seen any of them."

The admiral paused for a second, then suddenly produced a fireball in his hand and aimed it at the house. "I know you're in there, little brat! If you don't want to see this whole house burned down before your own eyes, come out and surrender now!"

Tao's father ran forward to try and stop Zhao, but the soldiers held him tightly. He struggled against their firm grip. "No! Don't hurt my children, please!"

The admiral turned and stared coldly at the man. "If you want to save your children, tell me where the girl is. Now! Or I'll start with turning you into ashes!" The man shivered in fright.

A girl's voice suddenly rang out from the door of the house. "Stop!" Yue emerged from inside, closely followed by the three children. The other girl was nowhere to be seen.

Zhao narrowed his eyes at the white-haired girl. "I remember you. You were at the Spirit Oasis. You're the supposed princess of the Northern Water Tribe, right?"

Yue stood unwavering. "Yes."

The admiral smirked. "Well, fancy seeing you here. You're a long way from home. Though if you don't make any trouble, I don't see why you can't leave unharmed."

"Leave them alone, Zhao. If you dare to hurt any of them, I will not go easy on you!" The waterbender's eyes flashed with anger uncommonly seen in her character.

"You know where Princess Azula is. If you don't hand her out now, you will be punished as well!" Zhao turned to his soldiers who held the Earth Kingdom peasant. "Finish him!"

One of the soldiers put a hand to the man's neck, preparing to end his life. As the children cried out in horror, Yue suddenly raised her arms and bent a wave of water out of the well that lay beside the house. She blasted the water at the soldiers, who fell backwards from the impact. As their hold on the man loosened, he quickly broke free and ran to his children's side. They watched with open mouths as Tao's rescuer took on the Fire Nation soldiers, battling fire with water. She used all her strength, but having never used her bending for fighting before, the soldiers soon gained the upper hand. They advanced on the lone girl, surrounding her so she couldn't escape.

Zhao stepped in front of her and grinned evilly. "Think you're a little hero, eh? Your amount of bravery is remarkable, especially when you apparently do not know your own strength!"

He was just about to deliver a blow to the Water Tribe princess when suddenly a blue fireball came between them. As he reeled backwards in shock, Azula jumped out in front of her companion and assumed a fighting stance. "Looking for me, Zhao?"

The admiral glared at her. "Finally come out of hiding, have you? Now prepare to meet your end!"

"Not today." The firebending prodigy quickly dealt out some blasts of fire, clearing a path through the surrounding soldiers. She then grabbed Yue's hand and they ran off into the forest.

The two girls continued running, looking for a place to hide from their pursuers. Suddenly Azula spotted a cave. "Quick! In here!"

A minute after they ducked in, Zhao and his soldiers arrived at the mouth of the cave. The admiral stared into the cave. "They have to be here. Find them!"

His soldiers nodded and ran in. While they searched the front of the cave, one of them noticed a cluster of rocks lying off to the side. He ran over to find a few eggs nestled together.

"Sir, there's a nest here." Zhao walked over to look at the eggs. "Probably an ostrich-horse's nest. Nothing to worry about. Continue searching!"

His soldiers just stood there immobilized. The admiral sent them a glare. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

One of the soldiers pointed to the mouth of the cave. Zhao turned to see a huge platypus-bear standing at the entrance, baring its teeth menacingly.

"Run!" The soldiers did not wait for their leader to give the order. They were already running out of the cave with the beast in hot pursuit. All that was left in the cave were the platypus-bear eggs – and two girls hidden behind some rocks at the back of the cave.

…

Azula's merry laughter rang through the cave. They had found another cave to take shelter in, this time without any platypus-bear eggs inside. The firebender was clutching her sides in laughter while sitting beside a campfire. "Did you see Zhao's face when he saw that platypus-bear? I almost burst out laughing! That was simply priceless!"

Yue laughed along with her friend. Then her face grew solemn. "Do you think Zhao and his soldiers will harm Tao and his family?"

Azula waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, don't worry. They'll be too busy running for their lives to think about anything else. I'm pretty sure we won't be seeing them any sooner." She then stretched her arms and yawned. "Well, I'm calling it a day. We'd better start early tomorrow morning. The farther the distance we put between ourselves and Zhao, the better. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." As Yue watched her friend slowly fall asleep, she thought of Tao and what he'd said before. "She's not completely gone. She still lives here, in my heart."

The waterbender put a hand to the left of her chest, and thought of her own mother. _I miss you, Mom. I know you're in my heart too. _She then lay down and went to sleep.

…

Fireflies buzzed lazily around the courtyard as an old man and his nephew stood in front of the house with their hosts. The old man smiled graciously at the owners of the house. "Thank you for the duck. It was excellent."

**"**You're welcome." The middle-aged woman handed him a package of leftover roast duck. "It brings me joy to see someone eat my cooking with such... gusto."

Iroh patted his stomach.** "**Much practice." He then stopped his leaving nephew. "Junior, where are your manners? You need to thank these nice people."

The scarred teen turned and offered a small bow. "Thank you."

As they turned to leave, the girl spoke quickly. "I know you don't think there's any hope left in the world, but there is hope. The Avatar has returned!"

"I know." Zuko then walked off with his uncle in they passed a tethered ostrich-horse, he suddenly stopped. Looking at the animal, then back at the courtyard, he released the ostrich and began to lead it away with them.

The former general was appalled. "What are you doing? These people just showed you great kindness!"

**"**They're about to show us a little more kindness." The banished prince got on the ostrich-horse, then offered a hand to his uncle. "Well?"

They rode away on the ostrich-horse, never noticing the girl looking out at them from her front door. She looked down sadly, then closed the door.


	8. Trouble In Omashu

**A/N: Due to a poroblem with the plot, Chapter 7 has been slightly modified. Feel free to check it out.**

A white-haired girl stood along the riverbank, bending a stream of water into her pouch. As she capped the pouch tightly to prevent any water from leaking, she looked over at her friend who was pondering over a map. "So where do we go next?"

The dark-haired girl trailed a finger from one side of the map to a triangle-shaped picture. "We're heading to Omashu. It should be on the other side of these mountains." She pointed to the mountain range that lay behind them.

Yue looked at the mountains, then back at the firebender. "And how long would it take for us to get from here to there?"

"A long time if we're travelling by foot." Azula rolled up the map and stood up. "But we don't have to. Come on, let's get moving."

The two continued along the path that led to a small rest stop for travelers where carriages were coming and going. Yue looked at her friend again. "Now what?"

Azula smirked as she pointed to a carriage full of supplies up ahead. "Now we hitch a ride."

…

The sun was setting as a carriage rolled along towards the bridge that led to the city of Omashu. It was stopped by a troop of soldiers that guarded the entrance to the bridge. "Halt! State your business."

The driver casually stepped down from the carriage. "Just delivering some supplies to the governor's palace." He handed some documents to the soldier, who rifled through them quickly before handing them back. "Carry on."

The carriage then continued its journey into the city as the gates opened for it to pass. It rolled through the mostly empty streets and carried on towards the governor's palace.  
>Inside the carriage, a voice spoke softly. "Where are all the citizens? And who is this governor?"<p>

Another voice answered. "After Omashu was taken by the Fire Nation, they installed a curfew over the city. The governor was appointed by my father, and he's been here for a few months now. His daughter used to be my classmate back in the Fire Nation Royal Academy for Girls, and she's the reason we're coming here."

"You mean she'll help us?"

"I'm sure she would. She's always willing to help an old friend, even if she is hunted by the Fire Nation. Now keep quiet. We're coming up on the palace."

The carriage stopped at the back door of the kitchens. As the driver got down to talk to one of the kitchen crew, two girls silently crept out from behind the carriage and ran into the kitchens through the open door.

…

A girl with well coifed black hair stood on the balcony silently, watching the deathly quiet city. A guard joined her on the balcony. "Lady Mai, it's getting late. It would be wise to let me escort you in."

"I'll be fine. I'll go in soon." The guard bowed and left, leaving the girl alone on the balcony again. Suddenly she heard footsteps behind her. "I said I'll be in soon."

"I'm not here to escort you in." Mai turned her head at the female voice and saw a familiar face. "Azula? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to see a friend." Azula smiled as she stepped onto the balcony. "It's been a long time, Mai."

The governor's daughter looked left and right, then turned back to her old friend. "How did you get in here? You know the Fire Nation has posted wanted posters of you all over the place, right?"

"I know. That's why I came here to find you. Can you help me hide myself here in Omashu?"

Mai raised an eyebrow. "Hide yourself in Omashu?"

"Yes. If I disguise myself among the citizens of Omashu, Zhao would never be able to find me. I could use it as a base and plan my return to the throne, without anyone knowing."

The taller girl looked away. "That would have been possible – if there were any citizens left in Omashu."

Azula was confused. "What do you mean?"

Mai sighed. "We should go in before I tell you this. I think you might be quite shocked at hearing the news."

Suddenly the firebender remembered something. "Mai, I almost forgot. I have a companion with me."

"A companion?"

"Yes. I'll take you to meet her, and then we can hear about your shocking news."

…

Azula's jaw was open in shock. "What?"

Her old classmate nodded her head. "That's what happened. My father's making the trade-off at noon. It's the only to get my brother back."

Yue leaned forward. "But isn't there any other way?"

The governor's daughter shook her head. "No."

The former princess was still mumbling in shock. "A powerful earthbending king… for a two year old… Your father's crazy!"

"No, he just wants his precious son back. Tom-Tom is supposed to be his heir. He'd do anything to get him back."

The white-haired girl stared at the girl she'd just met a few minutes ago. "So what should we do?"

Azula's eyes suddenly lighted up. "I have a plan. Tell your father you'll handle the hostage trade. We'll come with you and try to get your brother back without handing over the king. That way we won't be fighting a losing battle."

Mai looked over at her old friend. "You think this will work?"

The firebender smirked. "Trust me."

…

A young man whistled cheerily as he swept the floor of the rest stop clean. He set his broom aside, then mopped his forehead with a towel hanging around his neck. He could hear his boss and landlord calling him from inside the building. "Hey, you done cleaning up yet? I'm going to call it a day soon, so hurry up!"

"Coming!" As the young man turned round to get his broom, he was stopped short by the sight of a troop of Fire Nation soldiers coming straight towards him. He gulped nervously as their leader walked up to him. "May… may I help you, sir?"

Zhao smirked as he held up a poster of the former princess. "Yes. Have you seen this girl?"

…

Sokka scrutinized the three girls on the other end of the platform. There was the girl with sharp knives who almost killed them two nights ago and was also the little boy's sister. Two other girls were with her, but they were wearing straw hats over their heads that hid their faces, so he couldn't tell who they were. He had a feeling he knew one of them, though…

A crane lowered a metal coffin suspended by a chain. Inside, the laughing and snorting of the former king of Omashu could be heard. Sure enough, the coffin twisted on the chain to reveal his face, visible through a porthole at the side of the metal coffin.

The king snorted again. "Hi, everybody!"

The coffin landed standing straight up behind the governor's daughter and her friends. She stepped forward. "You brought my brother?"

Aang, still wearing his hat, stepped forward. "He's here. We're ready to trade."

Mai looked sideways at Azula, who nodded. She stepped forward as well. "We've decided that this isn't a fair trade. The deal's off!"

She raised her left hand and the coffin is lifted back off the ground as the chain is reeled in from above.

The king was seemingly oblivious to the happenings around him. "Whoa! See you all later!"

The Avatar rushed forward. "Bumi!"

As he approached the girls, Azula shot a plume of fire towards him. However, he leapt high into the air to avoid it. He opened up his staff just as but a gust of wind suddenly blew his hat off, exposing his tattoo. He grabbed the hat with his mouth before it flew away, but the former princess had recognized him.

"The Avatar!" The cogs in Azula's mind started turning rapidly. She ran over to the elevator winch and released the break with a blast of fire. The winch began to spin rapidly as she grabbed one of the chains attached to the mechanism. As the winch raised her rapidly toward the top of the construction scaffolding, a fight was ensuing between the Avatar's friends and the knife-thrower.

Yue watched as the two girls fought, leaving her former lover to hold the baby with one hand and blow on a whistle that didn't seem to produce any sound. She had recognized them when they first emerged on the platform, but didn't want to expose them with Azula and Mai around. She was about to try and stop them from fighting when a troop of soldiers marched onto the platform, surrounding them in a circle.

The four stood still in the middle of the circle of soldiers as Admiral Zhao walked towards them. The soldiers made way for him as he walked into the circle and looked at them. "Lady Mai, you may take your brother with you and leave now."

He ignored the teenage girl's glare as she took her brother from the Water Tribe boy's arms and left the platform. The admiral watched the three teens surrounded by his soldiers, and his eyes narrowed on the oldest girl's face. "So we meet again. Perhaps this time you will be able to reveal where your friend has gone."

Yue glared back at him. "Not in your dreams, Zhao." She attempted to sidestep him and escape, but he simply pushed her backwards with his arm. As she fell onto the ground, her straw hat fell off, revealing her white hair.

Sokka's eyes widened. "Yue?"

"I see you're still as stubborn as last time." Zhao towered over the Water Tribe princess' fallen figure. "But there's no platypus-bear to save you now, so you'll have to cooperate. Where is Princess Azula?"

The Water Tribe siblings watched puzzled as their old friend got to her feet and faced the admiral. "I don't know. She just left all of a sudden."

"I see. So the banished princess has just performed a vanishing act." He then turned to the others. "And what about you? I know the Avatar's here. Where is he?"

"We're not telling you anything!" Katara fixed the admiral with a hard glare.

"Very well then. Since you three are of no use to me now, I'll just have to eliminate you." As Zhao and his soldiers were about to attack the three teens, a growl could be heard from the sky. Appa landed beside his master's friends, his tail coming down in a huge arc that knocked the soldiers backwards. As his sister began to climb onto the sky bison's back, Sokka offered a hand to his beloved. "Come on Yue. We have to get out of here!"

The Water Tribe boy had just helped the princess of the North Pole onto Appa's back when Zhao and his soldiers got back on their feet. The admiral pointed at the escaping beast. "Don't let them get away!"

As the sky bison tried to avoid the soldiers' fire blasts, Katara pointed to her left. "There's Aang! We can catch him!" Appa pulled up alongside the chute where Aang was deflecting Azula's attacks with his staff. He hit the side of the chute with his staff, launching the coffin out of the chute. The coffin sailed over Appa as the Avatar's friends failed to catch it and fell down the other side, landing crosswise on another chute and breaking right through it. It fell again on another chute, this time landing lengthwise and beginning to slide down once more.

Zhao's soldiers were still pursuing the flying beast from the ground. A big fireball was launched at the sky bison, startling it and causing it to tilt to one side. Sokka watched in horror as Yue fell off the bison's saddle, trying to grab her hand before it disappeared into the air below. "Hold on!"

The white-haired girl's fingers barely brushed past her lover's before they caught thin air. She began falling towards the ground with a scream, until she landed in a box sliding down the chute. A shout of pain came from under her. "Ow!"

"Azula! What are you doing here?" The waterbender quickly got off her friend, who sat up in the box and rubbed her sore back. "Whatever I was doing here, I certainly didn't expect a nearly fully-grown woman to fall on me!"

She turned to her right, saw the Avatar sliding away into another chute on the metal box that contained the old king of Omashu, and groaned. "I almost had him! And now my ticket home is gone, down the chute with that crazy old king!"

Yue stared at her horrified. "You were chasing the Avatar this whole time?"

"Why not? Zuzu was supposed to do it so Father would lift his banishment. Since he failed, it's now my turn."

"But how could you do that? The Avatar is the last hope for peace in this world!"

"Well, we wouldn't be having any peace if we don't figure out a way to evade those guys!" The firebender pointed at the troop of soldiers waiting for them at the bottom of the chute. "Hang on! I'm going to accelerate our speed!"

The Fire Nation princess stretched her arms backwards and shot out two blasts of flames from her palms, propelling the box forward. They slid down the chute, getting nearer and nearer to the end of the line. With one last mighty blow Azula put the box to maximum speed, and it slid off the bottom of the long slide, past the bewildered soldiers, through a wall, and then it was in mid-air falling towards the lower part of the city.

"Azula!" Yue screamed as she found herself falling towards the ground for the second time that day. They were falling straight towards a carriage preparing to move. The firebender turned to her screaming companion. "When I give the signal, jump onto the driver's seat of that carriage!"

The box was going to crash into the carriage. "Now!" The two girls jumped off the box and onto the carriage's driver's seat, knocking off the driver and startling the ostrich-horses that were tied to it. Azula took the reins and drove the carriage forward, steering it clear of the falling box that crashed into a building. They immediately rode towards the city gates.

The gatekeeper saw the runaway carriage and gave the orders for the gates to be closed. Azula narrowed her eyes at the metal gate slowly closing. "Don't worry! We'll make it!"

The carriage sped through just as the gates closed behind it with a thud. Yue gave a sigh of relief. "We're safe."

"Not yet." The firebending prodigy pointed to the troop of soldiers standing at the exit of the bridge, blocking the carriage's way.

The waterbender suddenly had an idea. "Azula, jump onto the ostrich-horse. When I cut us loose, ride as fast as you can and jump over those soldiers."

"Good idea." The two girls jumped onto the ostrich-horses and Yue drew out a stream of water from her pouch. She cut the two ostrich-horses free from the carriage, and the animals and their riders jumped over the soldiers' heads, leaving them to be knocked flat by the stray carriage. The two girls sped off away from the city.

…

Azula rummaged through her bag and drew out something. She handed one to Yue, who was sitting across from her while staring into the flames of the newly-made fire. "Here. It's an Earth Kingdom passport."

Yue stared at the document in her hand. "Where did you get this?"

"Mai and I were discussing about where we should go from here last night. She suggested we head to Ba Sing Se and disguise ourselves as refugees. She also got us these passports."

"But how?"

"A governor's daughter has her ways. The staff in the palace weren't affected by the 'plague', and some of they were actually rather decent people. They're also good at forging documents. I wonder how they learned that." The firebender laughed lightly, then kept her passport safely. "Well, I'm turning in. We should start early tomorrow. It's a long way to Ba Sing Se."

"Okay." Yue also lay down beside the fire. "Goodnight, Azula."

"Goodnight." Long after the waterbender had fallen asleep though, the firebender still stayed awake, pondering the coming journey. _A former princess as a refugee… Is this how my life is going to be?_

_No. I must find a way to change this. _So thinking, the former Princess Azula of the Fire Nation fell asleep.

…

Sokka lay on his sleeping bag, listening to Appa snore as he slept soundly. Normally he was out like a light once he lay down, but now all he could think about was Yue's fingers slipping through his as she fell down into the city below.

_I let her go… again. _Katara had done all she could to comfort him, but he wasn't feeling any better. He didn't know where his beloved princess was now, and he didn't know if he would see her again.

_I'll find her. I'll do whatever it takes to get her back. _He then slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.


	9. Story Of A Dagger

Yue sometimes admired Azula's multi-tasking talents, which were as amazing as her firebending. The black-haired princess was currently riding an animal she'd just learned to ride, studying a map and chewing a spare piece of bread from their breakfast that morning at the same time. She gulped down the bread, pulled her ostrich-horse to a stop and held out the map so that her companion could see it. "It's quite a distance from here to Ba Sing Se. We're over here," she pointed to the triangle-shaped picture on the map that represented Omashu, "and Ba Sing Se is over there." Her finger moved to what seemed like two circles, one inside the other, on the right of the map. She rolled up the map and put it into her bag. "So the journey will be pretty long, which means we'll have to be prepared for long traveling hours if we want to get there sooner."

The Water Tribe princess nodded as she rode along on her ostrich-horse. "But can't we hitch a ride, like we did to get into Omashu?"

"I don't see many carriages going into Ba Sing Se, and most of them are refugees transporting their entire household to the last Earth Kingdom stronghold that hasn't fallen to the Fire Nation." _At least not yet. _"So either they wouldn't want to take on two extra strangers, or they don't have any room left in their overloaded carts. When we stopped for breakfast earlier, I saw a whole cart filled with all sorts of furniture, plus a wailing baby. It's a wonder they didn't take their water pump with them." The firebending prodigy laughed at her own joke.

Yue's ostrich-horse suddenly reared, almost toppling its rider off. She struggled to keep her balance on the beast as her friend rode up beside her and tried to calm it down. As the animal finally settled, the waterbender released a sigh of relief.

The younger girl raised an eyebrow. "I presume you don't have much experience with animals?"

Her older companion shook her head. "We didn't have much wildlife back in the North Pole. The only animals I've seen before were the turtle-seals, who do nothing but bark all day. Although there was Appa."

Azula's eyebrows were now both raised. "Appa?"

"He's Aang's sky bison. Aang and his friends travel everywhere on him. I only rode on him once, before the siege started." She could still remember that magical ride in the air with the boy she loved and a stunning view of the ice city below. Her cheeks turned slightly pink as she recalled their intimate moment.

"_It's beautiful up here."_

"_Yeah." _

The white-haired girl's thoughts were disturbed by a much-ignored traveling companion. "Hello! Earth to Water Tribe princess! I know it's probably pretty nice there wherever your mind has carried you off to, but if you don't want your ostrich-horse to try to knock you off again, you'd be safer living in reality."

"Sure, okay." As she trailed after the firebender, however, she couldn't help thinking about her lost love, and where he would be now. _I wish you were here, Sokka. I hope you're all right now._

…

As a matter of fact, Sokka wasn't all right at the present moment. He'd just crash-landed in a swamp thanks to a certain zoned-out Avatar, been forced to dirty his nice shiny machete by slicing through a tangle of annoying plants, become the target of haunted vines that moved of their own accord, and now he was separated from his friends. He now called their names and cursed the swamp as he cut a path in the vines before him with his machete. "Aang! Stupid swamp! Dumb, ugly vines! Katara!" He raised his hand to slice another vine blocking his way. "You think you're so tough, huh?"

He swung, missed, got caught up in some vines, and fell flat on his face in the mud. He looked up and had his mouth open for more cursing of the swamp when he saw a figure wearing a straw hat and a cloak hovering some distance away from him. The straw hat hid the figure's face, and yet he knew who it was. "Yue?"

The Water Tribe warrior grabbed the side of his head and looked away while muttering under his breath. "This is just a trick of the light... swamp gas... I hit my head running away last night. I'm going crazy."

He turned around and saw the figure still there, real as daylight. She lifted her head, and from under the straw hat two sad blue eyes pierced the depths of his soul. "You didn't protect me. You let me go."

He blinked and reached out his arms to her, wanting to hold her, but she was gone. He was left standing alone in the swamp, his machete hanging limply by his side. As he walked off frowning, however, those sad eyes remained in his mind, as if they were telling him it was his entire fault she wasn't here with him now. And he felt guilty because of that.

…

Azula delicately picked up another of the meat dumplings lying before her with her chopsticks. She still didn't like it much, but at least she was getting somewhat used to it already. From opposite her, Yue swallowed a mouthful of food and proceeded to take another dumpling. "Azula, you've taken care of the ostrich-horses already, right?"

"Relax. They're resting in the stable chomping on some hay right now. Nothing is going to happen to them." As she raised the dumpling to her mouth, a young man walked into the place and bowed his head to say something to the middle-aged man sitting at the next table. Her sharp ears couldn't help picking up their conversation. "Sir, two of the ostrich-horses are unwell. The stable man says they're no longer fit to continue the journey."

"What?" The older man's exclamation could be heard clearly by the surrounding tables. "But we need all our ostrich-horses to carry the cargo to Ba Sing Se! And where are we going to find two more ostrich-horses at this time?"

Smiling, the Fire Nation princess got up and walked over to the two men. "Excuse me, but I couldn't help overhearing your conversation. It seems to me you're in need of two ostrich-horses urgently."

The older man narrowed his eyes at her. "What are you trying to say, young lady?"

"Well, my companion and I are currently traveling to Ba Sing Se on two ostrich-horses. We'd be more than happy to lend them to you - if you're willing to give us a ride."

The two men exchanged glances, then the older one spoke. "We'll see your animals first, then we'll decide. Where is your companion?"

The black-haired girl pointed over to her table, where said companion was eating her lunch. "We'll wait until you've finished your meal first, then we'll take you to see our ostrich-horses. I'm sure you'll find them useful."

"You got a deal, young lady." As the firebender walked back to her table with an elfish grin, Yue raised an eyebrow. "Who were you talking to?"

Azula grinned as she sat down and picked up a dumpling. "Oh, nobody. But I may have just gotten our ride to Ba Sing Se."

…

"Shan? Hey, Shan?" Yue was oblivious to the people around her in the carriage loaded with goods, her eyes on the landscapes of the Earth Kingdom pastures outside. One thing was for sure – she had seen nothing like this in the North Pole before.

"Shan!" The Water Tribe princess turned to the young man who was shouting at her for some reason. "What? What's wrong?"

The young man combed the untidy black hair that hung in front of his face back and huffed indignantly. "I call your name for three times in a row, and I don't get so much as a twitch from you? You're really an airhead."

"Sorry." Yue grinned sheepishly. "So, what did you call me for?"

"Just wondering what's lying outside that's got your full attention. And also why your friend seems like she's in another world." He turned to Azula, who was perching her head on her arm that rested on a few sacks of grain while her eyes were transfixed on what seemed to be thin air. "Hey, you there! I don't remember what your name is, but I'm pretty sure even Mr. Anonymous doesn't stare into space for long periods of time! You sick or something?"

The black-haired girl snapped back into the present. "Huh, what's going on?"

"You two are really two of a kind, with your heads always in the clouds or something." The young man sat back on some more sacks of grain. "So where's your mind taken you off to?"

"Nowhere, really." In reality Azula had been thinking of what her next step should be after they had arrived at Ba Sing Se. She certainly didn't intend to settle down there, and she was adamant on finding a way to return home. "And my name's Ming, so stop calling me 'you there'. It's quite rude, you know."

According to the passports Mai had given them, Azula was now 'Ming' and Yue 'Shan'. They were citizens of Omashu, neighbors and childhood friends who had managed to escape the city when the Fire Nation took over. Having no choice but to leave their families behind, they were now heading to Ba Sing Se to look for a relative of Shan's, who hopefully would give them a place to stay. At least, that was the story they had told the others, who accepted it without suspicion.

The middle-aged man Azula met at the rest stop turned out to be a merchant who was bringing some cargo to Ba Sing Se. He had with him a bunch of menservants who worked at his estate in the southern part of the Earth Kingdom. They were selected to accompany their master on this trip and make sure no harm befell him, and it was considered a privilege to be included in one of the master's business trips.

The young man sitting before them now had introduced himself as Zhe, who was one of the youngest servants to be following the master on his journey. He was obviously very happy to be here, and had made up his mind to make sure the two ladies traveling with them were comfortable.

"Master Tam doesn't seem like an amicable person at first, but when you get to know him he's actually really nice. He lives alone at his estate, except for his servants of course. His wife died some years ago, so he has no family living with him. He brought me to his estate when I was a young boy, after my parents were killed in a Fire Nation raid on our village. I escaped and roamed the surrounding countryside alone, and if it weren't for him I would probably have starved to death or become a meal to the wild beasts. He taught me lots of things, like how to do arithmetic and steer a cart and many more. He's like a father to me, really."

Yue felt something familiar when she heard his story. A parent that taught you all sorts of things, who was really close to you… that sounded a lot like her mother. She looked out of the carriage at the blue sky, which never seemed to change much wherever she went. It had been eight years since she last saw her mother, and yet she clearly remembered their happy times together like it was yesterday…

…

The sound of a child's laughter could be heard ringing through the palace courtyard of the Northern Water Tribe. A young girl of about six or seven was maneuvering a stream of water around her, while she turned around and around, her footsteps following the water she bent.

A lovely woman sat at the edge of the fountain in the courtyard, smiling as she watched her daughter revel in her gift of manipulating her birth element. "Be careful, Yue. You don't want to get hurt."

"I'll be okay, Mom." The girl's white locks bounced merrily on her head as she held the water in a sphere, then suddenly let it shoot upwards as it spread out in a shower of water. She laughed as the water rained down on her, making dark spots on her blue parka.

"Yue, you've gotten yourself wet now!" The little princess was never afraid when her mother used that half-scolding, half-amused tone on her. She simply bent the water off her parka. "It's alright. Look, I'm dry now."

The wife of the chief of the Northern Water Tribe chuckled as she walked over to her daughter and wiped a few drops of water off her face. The little girl smiled as her face was rubbed dry. "Mommy, I want you to teach me another waterbending move!"

The woman smiled as she knelt down so that her face was level with her daughter's. "You know your father doesn't like to see you waterbending."

"It's okay, Mom. I'll be the best waterbender ever, and then Master Pakku can't say that girls can't waterbend!"

The woman chuckled softly at the thought of her daughter upstaging the old master. "Now, Yue, we mustn't be disrespectful. But all right, I'll teach you another waterbending move."

"Yay!" Yue's eyes glittered as she watched her mother stand up straight and assume a waterbending stance. "Alright, the move I'm going to teach you is slightly difficult, so watch closely. You have to shift your weight through the stances." She raised a stream of water from the fountain, then with a jerk of her hand whipped it against a nearby pillar. The little girl jumped up and down in excitement. "Ooh! Let me try! Let me try!"

"Alright, sweetie." The mother of the ambitious waterbender stepped back and watched her daughter mimic her stance. She bent a stream of water out like her mother, then shook her wrist awkwardly. The water only fell back into the fountain.

"It's alright. You'll get the hang of it soon." The older waterbender beamed down at her daughter, whose downcast face immediately looked up in determination. She nodded, then took her stance and drew out another stream of water from the fountain. She twisted her wrist around with a grunt, but the water only hit her on the forehead, leaving a tiny bruise. Almost seeing red now, she angrily drew another stream of water from the fountain and flung it in a random direction. "I don't know why it's so hard!"

As she took a step forward, she suddenly slipped on the wet ground and fell down. Her knee scraped against the edge of the fountain, and a red blotch was left on the icy surface. The little princess clutched her knee as she groaned in pain. "Ow!"

"Yue!" Her mother was immediately by her side. She carefully pried open her daughter's hands to examine the bleeding cut. "It's alright, dear. Everything's alright."

She drew some water from the fountain and coated her hands with it before pressing them to her daughter's knee. The water glowed brightly as the little girl felt the pain decreasing. When her mother finally lifted her palms, she stared amazedly at her knee which had completely healed. "Mom! How did you do that?"

Her mother simply smiled. "I used my bending to heal your wound, that's all. You can learn to do it as well."

Yue looked up at her mother. "You mean, I can do it too?"

The older waterbender nodded, and the young girl's face lit up. "Then I'll learn it from you! I'll learn to heal just like you, Mom!"

Her mother beamed down at her little daughter, happy to see her so eager to learn. The little girl's laughter was all she ever needed to make this world seem a happier place.

…

"You're not spaced off again, are you Shan?" Zhe had gotten off the carriage and was now looking inside at the silent lady.

"Sorry. What are you doing outside?" Yue poked her head out from the carriage and saw that they had stopped at a small clearing beside some woods. The other servants were milling about, carrying pails of water and unloading supplies from the carts and setting up tents.

"We're making camp here. Can't you see it's almost sundown?" The young man pointed to the setting sun.

"Oh, okay. Wait, where's Azu- I mean, Ming?"

"I sent her to get some firewood. She didn't seem too happy about it though, kept muttering under her breath about how she shouldn't be sent to do a servant's work. Was she the daughter of a rich merchant back in Omashu or something?" Zhe was helping the white-haired girl down from the carriage.

"Close enough." Yue suddenly tripped and fell flat on her face onto the ground. She helped herself up and dusted the dirt off her clothes. "Sorry about that. I think my legs have gone numb from the long ride."

"It's okay. You just stretch your legs for a bit." Suddenly the merchant's servant saw something glinting on the ground. He picked it up and saw that it was an ornately decorated dagger, the kind women usually kept in their pockets for self-defense. He held it out to the girl. "Hey, is this yours?"

The Water Tribe princess gasped. "Yes, it is! How did you get it?"

"I just found it on the ground. Must have fallen out just now when you fell down." Just then, someone could be hearing calling 'Zhe you lazy idiot' to help set up camp. He sped off to help the impatient person, leaving Yue alone to reminiscence about how she came into possession of the dagger, which wasn't exactly a pleasant memory.

…

The little princess stepped into the council room and walked up to where her father was sitting with her mother and the elders of the court. She got on her knees and bowed. "Greetings to Chief Arnook, may the Moon and Ocean spirits watch over our tribe always."

"You may arise, Princess Yue." She stood up to see her father smiling at her, but his smile was different from usual. She could not say how, it was just different. On the other hand, her mother was not smiling at all, and was looking at her rather gravely.

Chief Arnook cleared his throat. "I have received a letter from General Lun of the Earth Kingdom. He wishes to make an alliance with our tribe by marrying a lady from the royal family. He has asked for your hand in marriage, Princess Yue."

Yue stood still as if she was struck by lightning. Asking for her hand in marriage? This was impossible. She was only eight; she hadn't even reached the marrying age of sixteen yet. How could she be married to some general from some foreign land that she didn't even know?

She saw her mother stand up. "With all due respect, sir, Princess Yue is not of marrying age yet. It would be inappropriate to marry her off to the Earth Kingdom at such a young age. I do think…"

"I know of your concerns, Ayuka." The chief's wife frowned slightly at being interrupted by her husband, who continued as if nothing had happened. "However, the general's intentions are well, and he has promised to treat the princess properly and not touch her until she comes of age. I do not think such an arrangement is inappropriate, and as the father of the princess I am honoured to have this son-in-law."

He turned to his daughter. "The general has given you a gift as a token of his proposal. I hope you will accept it willingly." A servant stepped forward carrying a tray with a dagger on it. He presented it to the princess, who took the dagger and examined it for a minute before putting it back onto the tray. She could feel all the eyes of the elders, including the stuffy old waterbending master, staring at her now. With quivering lips she spoke. "I accept, father."

Her mother seemed like she would burst into tears, but her father seemed relieved to hear her reply. "Very well then. The general will be arriving by the next full moon to take home his bride. You must be prepared accordingly for that. You may return to your chambers, Princess Yue."

"Yes, father." The little princess walked out of the council room with her head held high. Only after she had firmly closed the door behind her did she allow the tears to fall. She sobbed as she fled to her chambers, heartbroken that she had to be forced into such a union at her age. She didn't want this; and yet, what could she do?

…

"Hey Shan, can you help get some water from the river? We need it to make some soup."

A fellow servant looked up at Zhe. "Are you crazy? You're sending her alone into the woods to get some water? You know they say that thieves often hide in the woods to attack unsuspecting travelers. I already told you to not let the other girl go look for firewood, but you didn't listen. You're really a stubborn…"

"It's okay. I'll be fine." As Yue got a bucket and walked off, she met Azula who was carrying a pile of firewood while muttering angrily. "Stupid people… wretched firewood… I could burn them all alive for this!"

"Good luck with the firewood, Ming!" The firebending prodigy only grumbled even louder as her companion wandered into the forest to find some water. She could hear the sound of a river rushing by, so she followed her ears and soon came to the river. She set down the bucket, then after making sure no one was looking, carefully bent the water into the bucket. As she bent down to take the bucket, she caught sight of her reflection in the clear water of the river. She stopped for a moment, watching her reflection as another reflection of her came to mind…

…

The little girl stared into the water of the Spirit Oasis and watched the two koi fish swim around her reflection in the oasis. She stepped backward and sat beside the gateway in the middle of the islet. This was her secret hiding place, her refuge, the one place she could be alone and not be disturbed. No one would find her here, and that was exactly what she wanted. For whatever anyone said, she was _not _marrying that general.

Of course, people would say it was her decision, but she didn't feel so. She had been under pressure; it was not a nice thing to have so many elders of the tribe staring at you as they waited for your decision. She simply hoped the general would get tired of waiting for her and leave.

Yue pulled out the dagger from the inside of her robe and studied it again. She unsheathed it and read the inscription: "Always remember to do what is right." She really liked this dagger, even if she didn't like the one who sent it. She wondered if the general would let her keep it even if she didn't marry him.

A sudden image flashed through her mind: an Earth Kingdom ship sailing away from the harbor. It meant the general was leaving, yet for some reason she didn't want it to go. She suddenly felt that something was not right, and she quickly got up and left the Spirit Oasis and the two fish encircling each other.

…

Yue sat up in her bed panting. She didn't know what awakened her, but she had a feeling that danger lurked near. A few seconds later, she suddenly heard people shouting and screaming outside, and things being knocked over. From beside her, Azula sat up still groggy with sleep. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know." The Water Tribe princess silently crept to the entrance of the tent and peeked out. She was shocked to see a gang of burly men rounding up the servants and tying them together. Among them was a frightened Zhe, who was trying not to show it.

"Is that all the people?" The leader of the thugs scanned the entire campground.

"What do you want with us?" Master Tam was trying not to lose his cool in front of the gang of thieves.

The leader smirked and stepped in front of the bound merchant. "When a gang of thieves raids a merchant's cargo, what do you think they want? This your first time doing business, rookie?"

His accomplices all laughed evilly. The leader put a knife to Master Tam's neck. "Got any more to say, mister?"

Looking at the fear on the merchant's face, Yue was transported back to that time eight years ago when she was equally scared, maybe even more…

…

The little girl wandered the strangely empty hallways of the palace, where not a single soul was to be seen. "Hello? Anyone here?"

She suddenly heard frantic footsteps behind her, and turned to see Yugoda, the chief healer of the tribe and her nursemaid, running up to her. "Thank goodness I finally found you, your Highness!"

"Yugoda? What happened? Where's everyone?"

"The Earth Kingdom general had arrived a few hours ago, but you were nowhere to be found, Princess. He refused to leave the North Pole without a bride, so your mother… she…"

Yue had heard enough. "Where is my mother?"

"They're preparing to leave the harbor now as we speak. Princess, if you want to see your mother again…"

But the young princess had already taken to her heels, running as fast as her small legs could carry her. She ran out of the palace, through the city streets, and straight towards the harbor where a crowd of people had gathered to bid farewell to their beloved chieftess. The small figure barged straight through the crowd, past her father and the elders of the tribe, and came to a halt at the edge of the dock, where the Earth Kingdom ship lay a few metres away, slowly leaving the harbor. The waves seperated her from her mother, who stood on the deck of the ship gazing at the home she was about to leave.

"Mother!" Ayuka's attention was caught by the sight of her little daughter jumping up and down while waving frantically at her. Her heart almost broke in two seeing her daughter almost in tears at her leaving, but she comforted herself with the thought that at least she had prevented her beloved child from suffering the fate of an arranged marriage. She raised a arm and waved back sadly.

The little girl stood still on the edge of the dock, watching the ship sail slowly away into the horizon. It was only after the vessel had completely disappeared from her view that she was aware of the tears streaming down her face.

…

"No! Don't hurt Master Tam!" Yue's thoughts were interrupted by Zhe's voice outside. Through the small opening in the tent, she could see the young man's bound figure struggling against his bonds. "Don't hurt him! You're not touching a hair on him without going through me first!"

The leader of the thieves turned slowly to the struggling servant and smiled evilly. "Oh, if you insist, I don't see why we can't start the rampage of this lovely campsite… with your dead body!"

As he charged towards Zhe with his knife, a memory flashed through the Water Tribe princess' mind…

…

A little figure was curled up on the bed, sobbing into her white hair. She hardly noticed her nursemaid walk into her room and sit on her bed. The older woman cleared her throat softly, and the little girl looked up with eyes red from crying. "Yugoda, I shouldn't have run away! Now Mother's gone and it's all my fault!" And with that, she continued sobbing.

Yugoda laid a comforting hand on her shoulder, and the little girl looked up again. She saw her old nursemaid take something from the folds of her parka, which turned out to be the dagger that was supposed to be her betrothal gift. "You dropped this on the harbor. I thought you might want it back."

The young princess stared at the dagger, and thought of her mother who was no longer by her side. She pushed back the dagger. "I don't want it any more!"

The kind old woman just smiled as she unsheathed the dagger and handed it to her charge, who tentatively took it and read the inscription again: 'Always remember to do what is right'

"I think your mother would want you to have it."

Yue looked up at her nursemaid again, then took the dagger and sheathed it. She held it closely to her chest, as if she could feel her mother's presence through it.

…

A stream of water suddenly knocked the knife out of the thief's hand, causing him to look up briefly before being knocked out with another stream of water. As he fell backwards, the other thieves turned to see a white-haired girl standing in front of one of the tents, a whip of water coiled in her hand ready to strike. They growled menacingly and advanced towards her, but she fought them off with her water whip.

Master Tam and his servants watched with open mouths as the white-haired girl they'd given a lift fought a whole gang of thieves with her waterbending. She managed to knock down most of them and was soon left with six more opponents. Noting the waterbender was showing signs of tiredness, the remaining thieves surrounded her tightly, intending to end the fight quickly.

Just as they were about to attack the lone girl, a mighty blast of fire suddenly ignited the grass before them, causing them to fall back from the impact. The merchant and his servants all shut their eyes from the flame, while the thieves hastily ran off into the forest. Yue also fell back onto the ground, raising her arms to shield herself from the fire, when she felt a hand grab her wrist and pull her up. She gripped onto the reins of an ostrich-horse, then got on and rode away with her firebending companion.

As the fire died down, Zhe opened his eyes slowly. He first saw a knife within reach that he could use to release himself and the others. Then he noticed that no one else was in sight. The thieves and Shan had all vanished.

…

The two ostrich-horses were tied to the post of a derelict hut. Inside, a fire was being made by the former Fire Nation princess while scowling at her companion who sat from across her. "You know, that's the second time I've had to rescue you from a situation you got yourself into! First it was Tao and his family, now this! Seriously, couldn't you for once not rush headfirst into trouble?"

The white-haired princess hugged her knees while staring into the fire. "Sorry. I was just acting on impulse. I was watching everything when I suddenly thought of my dagger." She took out the dagger from her pocket.

Azula raised an eyebrow. "Your dagger? What does that have to do with what you did?"

Yue sighed. "To answer you, I should tell you about how I got it…"

Later, when the fire was starting to die down and the waterbender's tale was done, the firebender took the dagger in her hands and studied the inscription. "So you got this from an Earth Kingdom general?"

"Yes." The Water Tribe princess took back the dagger. "It was supposed to be part of a pair of daggers made by the same craftsman. They were almost identical, only their inscriptions were different. The general bought the pair, and he gave the 'yin' dagger to me as a betrothal gift. The 'yang' dagger is still with him."

"What happened to the general? Surely you could still keep in touch with your mother by letters or something?"

The white-haired girl tensed. "I couldn't. Three years after my mother left, Ba Sing Se was attacked by the Fire Nation. The general was the first to surrender. From what we heard, they carried his entire family off to the Fire Nation as prisoners. Nothing has been heard of them since."

"Oh." The firebending prodigy thought this not a good time to point out that her own uncle had been the general leading the invasion. She faked a yawn as an excuse for no more conversation. "Well, I'm beat. I'm turning in now. Good night."

"Good night." As Yue prepared to go to sleep, she tucked the dagger safely into her pocket. Then she lay down and fell asleep.

…

Zuko turned his head in his sleep, and was awakened by a sharp point sticking out of his bag which doubled as a pillow. Muttering angrily to himself, he rummaged through the bag for the offending object and pulled it out. It was the dagger his uncle had given to him years ago when he had broken through the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. The banished prince unsheathed the dagger and read the inscription: 'Never give up without a fight'. Then feeling sleep calling to him, he kept the dagger in his pocket so it wouldn't awaken him again and lay down to sleep.


	10. Spring Festival

The hot sun bore down on two ostrich-horses walking slowly along a dusty road. The rider of one of the horses uncapped her water pouch and tipped it to find it empty. She turned to her white-haired companion. "Can you spare some water from your pouch?"

The older girl sighed as she took out her own pouch and tossed it to her friend. "Haven't you fixed that leak in your water pouch yet, Azula?"

"I did, but apparently it didn't work. I'm not much good at fixing things." The firebending prodigy gulped down some water, then handed the water pouch back to its owner.

The waterbender returned the pouch to its original place beside her waist. "We haven't seen any other people since this morning before we set out. The Earth Kingdom can't be this deserted, can it?"

"A hundred years of war has left its mark. According to the map, we should be reaching the next town by noon." The former Fire Nation princess gestured to her bag, where a map of the Earth Kingdom was kept.

"Well, the sun is pretty high in the sky already. Shouldn't we see some signs of human life by now?" Suddenly Yue spotted a small building in the distance. "Over there!"

As the two girls rode up to the building, they saw the door was closed firmly and a young man was putting up a 'Closed' notice. Azula got down from her horse and walked up to the young man. "What's going on? Why are you closing shop in the middle of the day?"

The young man turned to look at her. "You're obviously travelers, aren't you? Then you probably don't know about the Spring Festival in town. All the nearby shops close so the shopkeepers can join in the festivities, so if you're looking for food you should probably head into town. It's just over that way." He then pointed down a road branching out from the main road where a cluster of buildings could be seen before starting off down the path while whistling merrily.

The Water Tribe princess turned to her friend. "Should we?"

The firebender furrowed her brow. "I'm not sure. We should keep out of any towns or villages; we'd be easier to get captured by Zhao if we hang around any places with a lot of people." Just then her stomach rumbled unceremoniously and she groaned. "But if it's for keeping us alive, I don't see any other choice."

She got on her ostrich-horse, and the two girls rode down the path.

…

A troop of Komodo rhinos thundered through the Earth Kingdom pastures, shattering the peaceful atmosphere of the countryside. As the Fire Nation soldiers rode on without speaking, one of them broke away from the rest and rode forward toward the head of the troop. "Admiral, the animals are thirsty. I don't think they can continue much longer without a rest."

Zhao glared angrily at the offending soldier, who cowered under his menacing expression. "I don't care if the measly beasts are too weak to carry on! If we have to, we'll go on by foot! Those traitors have put a lot of distance between themselves and us, and I am not stopping just yet! We continue forward!"

"Yes sir!" As the soldier rode back to his place in the troop, the admiral scowled as his eyes scanned the barren countryside. _They can run, but they can't hide forever. I will find them._

…

"Wow. It is a proper festival." Yue couldn't help but be amazed by the celebrations of the Earth Kingdom people. Colourful streamers and banners were hung up everywhere, and all the people were dressed in their best. The streets were lined with all kinds of stalls, selling everything from flowers to food and many others. The two ostrich-horses walked on the narrow street, skilfully avoiding any pedestrians from being trampled under their feet.

Her firebending friend huffed. "This is nothing compared to the Fire Festival back home. We have everything there: performances, food, and best of all are the fireworks! Mother used to watch them with Zuzu and me on the palace balcony. We have a stunning view there." She suddenly felt a small pang in her heart, remembering that those happy moments spent with her mother had all become a thing of the past. Shaking her head to clear her mind, she pointed to a restaurant up ahead. "Let's just get our lunch there."

The two girls got down from their ostrich-horses before tying them to a pole outside where a few other beasts of burden were tied up. Then they went into the restaurant and chose a seat by the window where they could see their animals. As the black-haired princess beckoned to a waiter, no one noticed a shadow lurking beside the restaurant. While they placed their order, the shadow quietly untied the reins of the ostrich-horse nearest to him and slowly led it away. Just then, Azula turned her head to see someone making off with her ostrich-horse. She quickly got out of her seat and ran out into the street, chasing the ostrich-horse thief. "Stop! Come back!"

The firebending prodigy pursued the thief relentlessly through the streets until she accidentally tripped over something and fell. She raised her head just in time to see the thief and her animal round a bend and disappear from sight. Grumbling angrily, she got to her feet, dusted the dirt off her clothes and continued running. She rounded the bend into a side street to see two young men glaring at each other. One of them held the reins of her ostrich-horse in her hand. She pointed a finger at him. "Hey! That's my ostrich-horse! Give it back!"

The teen turned to smirk at her. "It's mine now. Finders keepers, remember?"

She glared angrily at him, the colour rising to her cheeks. What infuriated her most of all was that she had used that phrase herself before, after having taken one of little Zuzu's prized treasures. It didn't feel good to be on the receiving end of that phrase. She was sorely tempted to deliver a blow to the thief and wipe that disgusting smirk off his face when the other young man, who had been all but ignored, spoke for the first time since she'd bumped into them. "Give the ostrich-horse back, Chun."

Chun turned and flashed that annoying smirk of his at the taller teen. "Or what? Think you're a little goody-two-shoes, eh Young Dal? Well then, what are you going to do now?"

"This." Before any of them could respond, Chun was blasted back with a mound of earth until he was slumped against a wall. As he lay there in a daze, the earthbender calmly took the ostrich-horse's reins which had dropped onto the ground and handed them to the girl. "Here. I think this is yours."

"Thanks." Azula took the reins from the other teen's hand and cleared her throat softly. "So, I think I should be getting back now. Someone is waiting for me back at the restaurant.

"Oh. Okay." Young Dal watched her turn to leave the alley, then stop. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know the way back. I was so busy chasing the thief I didn't notice where I was going. Oh well, I'm sure I'll be able to find my way back. It's not a big city, after all." The former princess had just taken a step into the main street when she jumped backwards hastily to avoid getting run over by a dangerously fast cart. She lost her balance and started to fall over, until the young earthbender who'd just helped her caught her in time. She laughed nervously as she steadied herself. "Okay, so I have to watch out for speeding carts."

"And a lot of other things. It's not a big city, but that's why it's so overcrowded. An easy place to get lost." He flashed her a warm smile. "Why don't I help you get back?"

_I could use some help in this place. _"Sure, okay." The firebending prodigy let the stranger she'd just met lead her as they navigated the busy streets.

…

_Where could she be? _Yue wondered as she sat alone at a table in the restaurant, a plate of untouched food before her. Her friend had run out just after they'd ordered the food, and now she was left by herself here with their lunch. Just as well they had split the money between the two of them; otherwise she'd probably be stuck here waiting for someone who wouldn't show up. She sighed as she ate a bit of her lunch, then paid for the food and walked out. She might as well try to look for her missing friend rather than sit and wait all day.

She untied the reins of her ostrich-horse and got on, suddenly feeling a bit shaky to ride the animal. It had been better with Azula alongside her, but now she felt like she lacked the confidence to tame the beast. Taking a deep breath, she slowly steered her ostrich-horse forward.

As the animal and its rider slowly made their way down the crowded street, a ferret-lynx suddenly bolted out from a side alley. The horse reared up in fright, nearly toppling the white-haired girl over, then suddenly dashed forward. Hanging on for dear life, Yue couldn't even scream as she held tightly to the ostrich-horse's mane, shutting her eyes tightly. The pedestrians of the street hurriedly made way for the stray horse, who continued running madly until it crashed into a stall selling flowers. As the crash of flower pots breaking could be heard, the waterbender slowly opened her eyes. She found herself in the middle of a mess of broken flower pots and trodden flowers while her ostrich-horse lay on the smashed stall. Just then, an old man walked over, his cheeks turning red at an alarming rate. "What do you think you're doing to my stall here, little missy! That there horse of yours just ruined all my prized flowers!"

The teenage girl quickly got up and dusted the debris off her clothes while a crowd of passers-by looked on. "I'm so sorry, Mister! I'll help you clean up, if you like…"

"You'd darn well better, young lady! What with the mess that crazed animal of yours has made, it'll take me the rest of the day to clear this wreck alone!" The old man handed a broom to her, then picked up a bunch of crushed flowers. His eyes turned misty. "I spent all year tending to these blooms for the Spring Festival, never thought they'd go so quickly... Ah well, fate never spares the pretty ones." He turned and jerked a finger towards the Water Tribe princess who stood aside with the broom in her hands, not sure what to do. "And quit stalling there missy, the sun is going down soon and we haven't even started! I'd like to get this done by dinnertime, if you will!" He then bent down to pick up more withered blossoms, muttering under his breath as he did so.

Yue gave a shrug and started sweeping up some broken pieces of flower pot, though her mind was on her missing friend as she did so. _Azula, where are you?_

...

"That one, over there!" The raven-haired girl dashed over to the restaurant, ignoring the young man who was leading her ostrich-horse by the reins behind her. He shook his head sadly, thinking that she was probably used to getting people to do things for her. He tied the ostrich-horse safely to the stand outside the restaurant, then went in after its master, keeping an eye on it as he went in.

Azula was talking to a member of the staff of the restaurant. "No, miss, your friend already left some time ago. She left the money to pay for the food and then got up and went out."

The firebender groaned as she walked out of the restaurant with her new acquaintance in tow. "Seriously, where has she got to? She can't possibly be wandering around in a place she doesn't know!"

Young Dal was about to say something when he suddenly noticed a pile of smashed wood beside the road. He walked over and scrutinized the mess, his eyes widening. Turning around, he spotted a woman walking out of her home and ran up to her. "Excuse me, madam, but where is the stall that was here?"

"Oh, a ostrich-horse crashed into it a while ago. Had the stall owner quite in a huff. Luckily, the rider of the animal offered to help him clear up. They'd already left with whatever plants they managed to salvage."

"Thanks." He ran back to the girl he'd just helped. "I think I know where your friend is now. Follow me!" Then he took off down the street, leaving her to follow closely behind with her ostrich-horse.

...

"Well, here we are." The old man stopped in front of a small cottage. Yue's eyes widened at the sight of the garden, which was overflowing with beautiful blooms of every kind. The old man grinned when he noticed her gaze. "Wonderful, isn't it? This here's my precious work of a good few years. I've been tending to these ever since I retired. Makes for great leisure activity, and I can earn a few decent coins to boot. Over here now," and he led the way through the entrance.

"Now make sure that deranged beast of yours doesn't go trampling all over my garden, or else it'll have to take more than a bit of clearing up to make up for the damage!" The white-haired girl carefully led the horse through the garden, making sure it didn't step on the blossoms. "Um, Sir?"

"You can call me Old Hwang, kiddo. That's what they all call me in town. 'Course, I for one don't think I'm that old, but even I can't stop nature from doing its work." Old Hwang ran a hand through his grey hair. "So what's on your mind, kid?"

"I was wondering, doesn't anyone try to steal your plants?"

The old man chuckled. "Sure they do. Mostly young idiots who think a few pretty blooms would impress the lady of their choice but don't want to part with their money for it. Well, once they try they won't find themselves in a hurry to do it again."

"Why?"

"'Cause of my boy, that's why. The little youngster's been living with me ever since I found him wandering the countryside on his own. Took him in, I did. Turns out he was a dab hand at earthbending. Frightened the buffoons out of their skins, getting into my garden only to been thrown out over the wall by a pillar of earth. The two of us used to have quite a laugh about it." Old Hwang brushed his beard thoughtfully. "Now that I think of it, he's supposed to meet me in town today after noon. Suppose he forgot and went dilly-dallying around the town again. Oh well."

He turned to the waterbender. "Right then, you can start trying to find a place for these half-dead sprouts. I doubt that with a bit of water and some extra care, they'll be up and blooming like they were again. There's some buckets of water in the storeroom." He gestured to the small shed in a corner of the garden.

Yue stuck her head into the storeroom and saw a few buckets of water, shelves of gardening tools and flower seeds, and an old watering can in the corner that was falling to pieces. "Um, I don't think this watering can's still usable, Old Hwang."

Old Hwang's eyes twinkled mysteriously. "But you wouldn't need a watering can, would you?" He then went into the cottage, leaving the bewildered girl to stare after him.

...

"How do you know where're we're going?" The two teens walked along the dirt path with the ostrich-horse being led behind them.

"I was supposed to meet the stall owner. Old Hwang found me loitering in front of his house one day when I was little and took me in. Since then I've been helping him with his gardening and keeping thieves away from his garden. That Chun fellow back there used to frequent our garden in the hopes of nicking some flowers to woo the young ladies of the town, but a few earthbending tricks soon put him in his place." Young Dal chuckled softly.

"So you're not from around here?"

"No." The teenage boy gazed into the distance. "I was from one of the nearby villages. There was a Fire Nation raid on my village many years ago, and my parents were killed. I escaped, and would have probably been devoured by wild beasts if Old Hwang hadn't found me. He's always treated me like I was his son."

A silence followed. Then Azula said quietly, "I'm sorry." It seemed there was nothing else she could say.

"It's okay. I love living with Old Hwang, helping him in the garden and at his stall. In fact, I don't really remember my parents any more. I've put the past behind me, and now I look towards the future." He pointed ahead at a small cottage. "There it is. That's Old Hwang's home."

The raven-haired girl nodded, and followed the young earthbender towards the small cottage, leading her ostrich-horse behind her.

...

Yue carefully bent a small bubble of water from the bucket onto a drooping flower she had planted into a small flower pot. Gently placing it into the pot, she watched as the soil quickly absorbed the water. The flower seemed to stand a little straighter immediately.

Suddenly a shout from outside startled her. "Hey, Shan! You abandoned me to do some gardening?" She looked up to see Azula walking towards her with her ostrich-horse and a young man she didn't recognize. She rushed to the entrance of the garden. "Ming, where have you been? You dashed out of the restaurant and didn't even leave a word!"

"I got hit by an ostrich-horse thief. But this guy here helped me out." The firebender gestured to her companion, who smiled. "Hi, I'm Young Dal. You've met Old Hwang, haven't you?"

"So you're the youngster who was supposed to meet him in town today and ended up dilly-dallying around the place?"

The teenage boy laughed. "Sounds like he told you about me. I was going to meet him when I saw your friend running after a stolen ostrich-horse. I figured she could use some help."

"Well, thanks for bringing her back anyway." Yue turned to her recently-reconciled travelling companion. "So where do you want to go now? We could head back to the town for dinner."

"Actually, Young Dal suggested we stay for dinner. I thought it didn't sound too bad."

Just then Old Hwang's voice came from inside the house. "Young Dal, is that you? I've just finished cooking dinner. Come and eat!"

...

Azula sat on the roof of the house, watching the fireworks shoot into the sky from the town. It was almost like she was back home on the palace balcony, watching the fireworks with her mother and brother. Sure, the fireworks here were nothing compared to the magnificent display they had in the Fire Nation, but this was the closest she had ever got to those happy childhood years of long ago. She didn't notice someone crawl up the roof and sit beside her until he spoke.

"Enjoying the fireworks?"

"Woah!" She was so startled she almost lost her balance on the roof. "Next time give a warning before you frighten someone off the roof, okay?"

"Sorry." Young Dal grinned as she steadied herself again. A fiery firecracker exploded over their heads. "I remember when we used to celebrate the Spring Festival back in my village. The fireworks were nowhere as pretty as these, but at the time I thought they were the best I'd ever seen."

The raven-haired girl huffed. "Back in my home, the fireworks were way better than these."  
>"Oh yeah, I forgot you're from Omashu. Big city, big celebrations, I guess."<p>

They sat in silence for a while, watching the fireworks light up the night sky. Then he asked,

"So, do you watch the fireworks with your family?"

He didn't notice her shoulders tense a bit as she answered. "Yeah, with my mom and brother. We watched it from the balcony."

"Must have been nice."

"I suppose it was." Her shoulders relaxed slightly. "What about you?"

"I used to go the the village square with my parents and watch the villagers set off the fireworks. I remember thinking it was very loud, and very bright. But those were the best times of my life."

He sighed as he looked down at the garden where Old Hwang was showing something to the white-haired guest. "Old Hwang loves the Spring Festival. That's when most of his flowers come into full bloom. His stall is always busy during the festival, when almost everyone wants to buy themselves a reminder of the spring season. You know, when new things grow and old things start anew. That's what the festival means to us, anyway."

"Is that so." Azula was now no longer looking at the fireworks, but at the cherry blossom tree standing beside the house. It was indeed in full bloom, its pink flowers illuminated by the flashing lights in the sky. _When new things grow and old things start anew... there might be some truth in that._

...

"How did you know I was a waterbender?" Yue couldn't help asking the question she had been wondering for the past few hours.

The old man turned and smiled at her. "Years ago, I had a strangely-dressed family at my door asking for one night's lodging. Turns out all the inns in town were full for the Spring Festival. Everyone likes to come and see our cherry blossoms, you know. Anyway, they said they were from the Southern Water Tribe, a long way from home, on their way to the North Pole to hide from the Fire Nation raids on the South Pole. 'Course, I didn't think it possible, but I knew enough not to tell them that. Thought they'd give up and settle down in the Earth Kingdom eventually. Their daughter was quite a looker, I remembered, and she was taken by my flowers. Even then I've been planting a few here and there in the garden, while keeping my job in the coal mines. She offered to help water the plants, the sweet child, and was I surprised when she started whipping the water out of the buckets as if by magic. That's when it dawned on me; she was a waterbender."

He grinned as he watched his flowers in full bloom lighted up by the fireworks. "When you came along, I recognized you right away. You looked a lot like that sweet little lady of so many years ago. 'Course, she didn't have white hair, mind you, but the resemblance was still there. I had a hunch you'd have inherited your mother's talent, and I was right, wasn't I?"

The Water Tribe princess nodded. It was quite surprising to find herself where her mother once was while on the run from the Fire Nation. She was probably only her age at the time, maybe even younger. She might even have stood where she was now, watering the flowers with her bending like her daughter did.

She was startled by Old Hwang turning around and placing a small pot in her hands with a single flowering sprout in it. "Thought you'd like to keep this, missy. They're moon flowers, they are. Love the shade, these types. Your mother was very attracted to these when she was here. I also gave her one to keep for herself. I'm sure you'll take care of them as well as I would've."

The waterbender's eyes misted up slightly. "Thank you, Old Hwang."

"Oh, the best thanks you can give me is making sure this little one grows up properly. It's just bloomed, you know. Spring is when all the flowers bloom again. Lovely time of year."

He walked back into the house, leaving her to follow him with the small pot in her hands.

...

The two ostrich-horses stopped at the edge of the forest, watching as their riders gathered around a big tree. The younger of them said to the older, "You know we can't keep that flower, what with us travelling all over the place."

"I know." The white-haired girl carefully placed the flower in the hole she'd made with her hands. She filled up the hole with earth, then stood up and looked at the small flower shining in the moonlight. It seemed to bloom even more as the moonbeams danced on its petals. She turned to her ostrich-horse and got on it. "Let's go."

The two of them rode away, while a small spring breeze made the moon flower sway gently in the cool night air, reminding everyone that spring is a time of birth and rebirth.

...

A hard rapping came on the door. Young Dal rubbed his eyes groggily while lighting up an oil lamp. He held the oil lamp in one hand and opened the door with the other. The oil lamp's light shone on the face of a middle-aged man with sideburns, holding a small flame in his palm and surrounded by many more soldiers.

As the young earthbender stepped backwards in surprise and terror, Admiral Zhao stepped into the small cottage without invitation and brandished a wanted poster in front of the Earth Kingdom peasant's face. "Have you seen these two girls?"

**A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, both me and my beta were really busy lately, him wrapping up his satire series and me discovering Harry Potter fanfiction. Kindly take the time to review, 'kay? They're my lifeblood.**


	11. Fireflies

Yue walked into the campsite with her arms full of firewood to find her friend standing at the edge of the cliff they were camping on. "Azula, what are you doing?" 

The firebending prodigy squinted into the distance at what seemed to be a herd of creatures moving towards their direction. "Why are a herd of animals coming our way?" 

As the animals drew closer, she noticed that a troop of soldiers was riding them, and they seemed to be wearing armor of some kind. Suddenly she understood. "It's Zhao. He's caught up with us." 

They packed up their makeshift sleeping bags quickly, then got on their ostrich-horses and rode off into the forest. After riding for some time, they stopped beside a small stream. Azula looked around her. "We should be deep enough in the forest for them to not be able to find us yet. We'll just get some sleep and leave first thing in the morning." 

Within minutes, they had laid out their sleeping bags again and a warm fire was blazing in front of them. After a simple dinner, the Water Tribe princess bade her friend goodnight and went to sleep. The firebender did not sleep however, as she stared into the flickering flames of the campfire. All around her little dots of light were appearing, as fireflies started to dance around her. Her thoughts travelled with the dots of light to her childhood years, when she was still an innocent child who enjoyed catching fireflies with her mother… 

… 

In a beautiful garden under a tree, a mother and daughter sat together watching the fireflies as they flittered around them. The older woman reached out a finger to touch the dots of light that surrounded them and smiled as one came to rest on the tip of her fingernail. She let it fly into a glass jar to join several others of its kind, then handed the jar to her daughter, who watched fascinated at the creatures inside. The little girl's eyes widened in awe. "They're beautiful." 

Her mother smiled. "Just like you, my dear." 

The next day she was in the garden again, practicing a firebending move she'd just learned that day. She swung her arms in an arc, causing a ring of flames to surround her. "Mom, look what I can do!" 

Her mother watched her from the shade of a nearby tree. "That's wonderful, dear, but be careful." 

"I will, Mother… aah!" The little firebender tripped over a rock and fell. 

"Sweetie!" The prince's consort quickly rushed to her daughter's side and held her. "Are you alright?" 

"It… hurts…" The little princess grimaced in pain while gripping her twisted ankle. 

"It's alright, dear. Everything's going to be fine." Her mother put two reassuring arms around the little girl. And as she lay in her mother's arms, everything did seem to be fine. 

… 

A camp was being set up at the edge of the forest. As soldiers milled around the campsite, their leader gazed around them with a watchful eye. "The two girls must have been here." 

He turned to his soldiers. "Some of you will stay here. The rest of you follow me into the forest to search for the traitors." 

"Yes sir!" As the soldiers hurried away, he took a deep breath, sure that his search was coming to an end at last. 

… 

"What were you thinking, to send her off to boarding school!" she could hear her mother shout as she walked past her parents' bedroom. She immediately froze in her footsteps. 

"She has a lot of talent. At the Fire Nation Royal Academy for Girls she will fully realize her potential," her father replied coldly. 

"But for a child her age to leave home like that? There's no telling the damage it would do to her! I seriously think that…" 

"Enough!" She shuddered as her father's voice boomed. "She's going and that's final! This is the last I want to hear of it!" 

She backed away from the door, then ran as fast as her legs could carry her before her parents could discover her eavesdropping. She ran to the royal garden, stopping only beside the turtle-duck pond to catch her breath. She was aware of two lines of tears streaming down her cheeks. 

How could they? she thought. How could they make her leave everything she knew to go to a stupid boarding school? As she stood there silently sobbing, several fireflies flew around her, shining brightly and oblivious to her sorrow. 

After that, she only saw her mother on holidays when she was home from school, and sometimes not even then. For she knew what was happening in the palace. Her mother's affection had gravitated towards little Zuzu, and she was all but ignored now. Until one day, after she had been hiding behind the curtains in the throne room and overheard a conversation between her father and grandfather. 

Of course, she couldn't resist the chance to taunt poor Zuzu about it. However, she never counted on her mother appearing. "What is going on here?" 

"I don't know," she answered innocently. Why did her mother have to care anyway? It wasn't that big a deal, little Zuzu having to be 'sacrificed'. In fact, it meant her mother would be able to spend more time with her, just like they did before she was sent away to school. 

"It's time for a talk," her mother said firmly before grabbing her by the hand and leading her away. 

She led her to the royal garden and they sat under a shady tree. "Now sweetie, what did you tell your brother this time?" 

"Oh, nothing at all," she said nonchalantly. 

Her mother's expression grew serious. "I see. And what was your brother talking about when he said that Father wouldn't do anything to him?" 

She was staring at her with intense eyes, and she knew that no matter how good she was at lying, she couldn't fake this one through. "Well, I kinda heard Grandfather say something about Father having to know the pain of losing a first born son..." 

Her mother's eyes widened with fear. "Tell me exactly what are you talking about!" 

She had no choice but to tell her mother everything, and watch her get up and leave hurriedly when she finished, leaving her alone in the garden with a sense of dread slowly rising in her heart. 

… 

A troop of soldiers trudged through the forest, each holding a small fire in their palms. The flickering flames cast shadows on the trees around them as they advanced deeper into the wood, following their leader as he searched for the two girls who were evading his capture. Any moment now… soon they will be mine. 

… 

She sat on her bed, playing with her brother's knife. She had taken it away from him, and without their mother around, things had been a lot easier. 

"I want my knife back. Now." 

"Who's going to make me? Mom?" 

Sure, she had let him take it then, but she easily got it again afterwards. It was just too easy, bullying a softie who had been relying on his mother for so long, then suddenly lost his pillar of strength. 

But didn't you once rely on her as well? a voice said in her mind. Didn't you once love her too? 

"I never did," she said aloud, although she knew that wasn't true. "I never cared about her. In fact, I'm glad she's gone!" 

Even as she said those last words, the tears started to flow down her cheeks, and she fell on her pillow sobbing loudly. 

"Azula…" Her head whipped up suddenly at the sound of her mother's voice calling her name. She looked up to find her mother before her, fireflies dancing in her hair. 

"Mom!" Just as she reached out a hand to touch her, her mother started to fade, as did the four walls around her. She was left in darkness, with only the flickering dots of light left. To her horror, they grew into balls of flame, which grew larger and larger. From somewhere in the darkness she could hear her father's cold laugh… 

… 

"No!" Azula sat up suddenly, her chest heaving. She had fallen asleep in front of the fire, which had long since burned out by now, leaving its charred remains. The images of her dream came back to her vividly. She hadn't dreamed about her mother ever since her disappearance, and she wasn't sure why she did just now. It must have been watching the fireworks of the night before, bringing back old memories. 

She was aware of a lull in the nightly sounds of the forest. It was quiet, too quiet. Something – or someone – had disrupted the peaceful atmosphere. And as if on cue, a dozen fireballs appeared in the midst of the bushes surrounding her, followed by a troop of soldiers. They had caught up with her at last. 

Admiral Zhao smirked at the sight of the former Fire Nation princess curled up beside a burnt out fire. He could see her companion starting to stir from her slumber under a nearby tree. She opened her blue eyes and looked around. "Azula, what's happening?" 

"Zhao's found us." The firebending prodigy was surveying the enemy with the eyes of a tiger eying its prey. There were a few moments in which no one moved a muscle. Then suddenly Azula got to her feet and shot a ring of fire around her and Yue in one swift movement. The flames flared up in the soldiers' faces, causing them to be blinded temporarily. The Fire Nation princess took the chance to knock down a few of the soldiers with sharp jabs of fire, all the while skillfully avoiding the attacks from the other soldiers. 

Yue immediately leapt to her feet and used water from a nearby stream. She bent a wave towards some of the soldiers, sending them flying backwards. Zhao watched with clenched teeth as the two princesses took down his soldiers. With an angry growl, he sent a ball of flame at the firebending girl's back as she was occupied with his men. The flame was deflected by a blast of water from the Water Tribe princess as her companion finished off the soldiers she was dealing with, then the dark-haired girl turned her attention to the admiral. 

The two circled each other menacingly, then Zhao attacked first with a series of attacks all aimed at Azula's chest. She dodged all of them, sending her own blue fire back at him. They traded blows rapidly, then he caught her unaware by sending a kick to her foot, causing her to fall to the ground. The raven-haired girl looked up to see her opponent send a fireball straight to her face. 

In a split-second, the face of her mother flashed before her eyes. Rolling over, she managed to let the fireball miss her by inches. Getting to her feet again, she closed her eyes concentrated on the energy inside her. Then, just as Zhao was about to attack again, she suddenly stretched out her arm and unleashed a bolt of lightning. The admiral only had time to blink before the lightning made contact and an explosion took place. 

The first thing Zhao thought of when he opened his eyes again was wonder that he was still alive. The lightning had hit the tree behind him instead, leaving it all but smashed to bits. As he stood over the debris, another thought came to him. He looked around quickly, but there was nothing else other than the slumped figures of his soldiers to be seen. The girls had escaped him again. His anger and frustration welled up in his throat, and he let out an angry yell. 

… 

"Why didn't you just strike him dead?" Yue was almost breathless as she struggled to catch up with Azula on her ostrich-horse. They had just managed to escape safely with the diversion the firebending prodigy had caused. 

"If I did, it would only be more proof of my treachery. I'm not about to hand him the evidence he needs to ensure the whole Fire Nation will be out looking for me." The ostrich-horses came to a stop, and the former princess breathed in deeply. Around her, fireflies were darting in and out of the bushes. 

She already knew that she couldn't go home the way she came. And she also knew that even if she did, things would never be the same as they were. No matter what happened, she was never going to see her mother again. She tilted her head up. "Let's go." They then rode off down the path through the forest.

**A/N: I actually based this chapter on one of my earlier songfics 'Fireflies'. You can check it out on my profile if you want. As always, reviews are much appreciated!**


	12. Author's Note

Dear readers,

Hey, it's me Carrot-Bunny, the author of this fanfic. I haven't been updating for three months now (don't throw tomatoes at me!) because I've been lacking the creativity to keep this story going. So for now I'm taking a break from _A Tale Of Two Princesses_ to get more inspiration and think about where I want to take this story. Thanks for reading the past chapters, and I hope to see you again soon.

Love,

Carrot-Bunny


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